Supposing cricket becomes an Olympic sport, would it endanger other formats like ODI's and test cricket?

If cricket is included in Olympics, it will mean that more teams will play cricket at international level. But that will not ensure, every team will play cricket all the time and they will excel in cricket. For instance, take Basket Ball which is an event in the Olympics. But I don't think there are many international Basket Ball tournaments (only noteworthy thing is the NBA, which is not international and was there for a long time).

If that happens and cricket gains worldwide popularity then I should say other teams will strive to gain Test status. Only the select few will be playing Test cricket, and other teams will want to be a part of it, just because of the exclusiveness enjoyed by a few teams. However that'll not happen.

Olympics happens once in every four year, and the interest dies down once it's over. Same thing, if USA plays cricket in Olympics, they are not going to carry iy forward for long. And in Olympics, there are so many different events, Cricket may not even get noticed, or will not be telecasted at all. Where do you think, cricket will gain popularity from? Even if there is a broadcast, it will not be available in countries where cricket does not generate any interest, instead they will telecast other events. The people watching will be us, the cricket-savvy people, scattered across the southern part of Asia, Oceania, England, Southern part of Africa, the Caribbean Islands etc. I don't think Cricket in Olympics will have any impact to the global status of cricket. It is going to be where it was before the Olympics. Just we'll have another reason to boast about.

Good question. Me as a die-hard cricket fan, love all formats of game equally. Be it Test, or ODI, or T20, I have the same passion for all three formats. But, I don't think other cricket viewers - who just care about entertainment - will love all three formats, since T20 looks much more entertaining with every ball expected to be a 6, or 4, or a wicket. Addition to that, it is less time consuming format.

I feel sorry for myself and those out there like me about this, but that's the way this world is. Viewers go out there to have fun and not to match the real cricketing "skills". Therefore, yes, there will be problems with ODI and Test format, if T20 format goes to Olympics.

Till now, I have only talked about negatives, but there are some handy positives too, if you want to make cricket a global sport. Since Olympics is such a big stage, playing cricket at that stage will really spread the popularity of cricket worldwide. Then, maybe we will be able to watch much more interesting and competitive games, and be able to produce more genuine cricketers.

But, I still think negatives will outscore the positives because of viewers' demands.

For your last question, I don't think there will be separate nations for separate format because the viewers of that nation would get bored watching the same format time and again. For instance, Australian viewers won't always like to watch only test cricket being played in their nation, they would also need T20 or ODIs for some change.

Anyways, I hope cricket to go to Olympics in T20 format, but I wouldn't want it to overtake Test or ODIs.

[Edit]:

Thanks Mamba, for making the question clearer.

Its more like football if there are many games going on at the same time. But, what makes cricket's situation different and worse from football is, the different formats. You mostly watch 90 minutes if you watch a full football game, but you have options of watching 20, 50, or 450 overs, if you watch a full cricket game. It fulfills viewers' demands of watching the format of their choice, but it also diminsihes the value of Tests - where a player's skill is tested - and ODIs because of their time consuming, which suggests that T20 would be preferred over other two.

Therefore, more or less, T20 cricket will oviously hurt ODI and Test cricket in future :(

As it is now, it's not good for cricket. Just look at the injuries sustained by some top players in India. If they could find a few weeks in the year, free from all countries cricket seasons to stage it, maybe it would work out, so long as there was a recovery period at the end of the tournament. But I guess that would be impossible to organize.I also think the auctioning of players should be dropped, it's demeaning to the players. A better way would be to draw the names from a barrell by the team managers or whatever. Then it would be completely random & no-one could complain.

There are still only 365 days in a year, as it is now with only 10 countries playing there is very little down time, as soon as one tour finishes they are preparing for the next one, having 50 countries playing T20 would just mean it will be a very poor quality competition, do you really care if Newfoundland beats Cocos Islands?

Would you buy a ticket to watch Bali vs. Tunisia?

I can't see how it could. The Olympics are only held every 4 years & that wouldn't interfere with world cricket as it would be slotted in to that year's schedule.

Olympics: Once in 4 years..It won't cause any problems to other formats,No way it would affect ODI's because it also will be ODI's. ;)

on my opinion if cricket is added to olympic its a gr8 thing man....

just all make a wish for tat ... cricket should add in olympic...

there wont be any sort of repercussions as you suggested,...

cricket becomes an Olympic sport, it would be great....

cheers~

i think there shoul d only be ODI format

no