Cricket at the Asian Games

The team sport of Cricket became a medal sport at the 2010 Asian Games. The last time cricket featured in a major multi-sport event was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The gold medal was won on that occasion by South Africa, who defeated Australia by 4 wickets in the final with New Zealand winning the bronze medal. At a general meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia, held in Kuwait on 17 April 2007, it was announced that cricket would be included as a medal sport in the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou. Matches would be played on a Twenty20, 20-overs per side format.

Following the announcement, Asian Cricket Council Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq said "Cricket will receive a major boost across Asia and in particular China, as a result of this enlightened decision. The Asian Cricket Council pledges its support to the Guangzhou games organizers in order to make the event a success."

Asian cricketing powerhouses Pakistan and India have been the drivers behind the inclusion of cricket in the Asian Games. The Test status nations in the Asian Cricket Council, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would compete with the initial plan that the Associate teams such as Nepal would also be invited to play in the inaugural competition. China will compete as the host nation^[1] which serves as a boost for the Chinese Cricket Association which has boldly stated its ambition of China becoming a force in one-day cricket by the 2019 World Cup.

The plans for including Associate/Affiliate nations in the Asian Games was later changed, along with the format that the competition would take place in, changing from 50 over matches to Twenty20 matches. It was decided that the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup would serve as the pre-tournament qualifying competition. Afghanistan qualified as winners of the tournament along with the national teams of Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Summary

Men

Year	Host		Final				Third place match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2010	Guangzhou		Bangladesh	5 wickets	Afghanistan		Pakistan	6 wickets	Sri Lanka
2014	Incheon		Sri Lanka	68 runs	Afghanistan		Bangladesh	27 runs	Hong Kong

Women

Year	Host		Final				Third place match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2010	Guangzhou		Pakistan	10 wickets	Bangladesh		Japan	7 wickets	China
2014	Incheon		Pakistan	4 runs	Bangladesh		Sri Lanka	5 wickets	China

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Pakistan	2	0	1	3
2	Bangladesh	1	2	1	4
3	Sri Lanka	1	0	1	2
4	Afghanistan	0	2	0	2
5	Japan	0	0	1	1
Total		4	4	4	12

Participating nations

Legend

• QF — Quarterfinals
• R1 — Round 1

Men

Team	2010	2014	Years
Afghanistan	2nd	2nd	2
Bangladesh	1st	3rd	2
China	QF	R1	2
Hong Kong	QF	4th	2
Kuwait		QF	1
Malaysia	QF	QF	1
Maldives	R1	R1	2
Nepal	QF	QF	2
Pakistan	3rd		1
South Korea		QF	1
Sri Lanka	4th	1st	2
Total	9	10

Women

Team	2010	2014	Years
Bangladesh	2nd	2nd	2
China	4th	4th	2
Hong Kong	R1	QF	2
Japan	3rd	QF	2
Malaysia	R1	R1	2
Nepal	R1	QF	2
Pakistan	1st	1st	2
South Korea		R1	1
Sri Lanka		3rd	1
Thailand	R1	QF	2
Total	8	10

References

1. China catches cricket bug ahead of Asian Games debut BBC 13 November 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.

External links

• Asian Cricket Council (ACC)