LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cricket, which ranks as the world’s second most popular sport, hasn’t been featured in Olympic competition for 126 years. That lengthy absence will end when the 2028 Games arrive.
Construction workers broke ground Wednesday in Pomona, located on the eastern side of Los Angeles County, beginning work on a major cricket facility with seating for more than 10,000 spectators. The venue will host both men’s and women’s Olympic competition.
The facility is being constructed within the Fairplex fairgrounds and will become the headquarters for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a Major League Cricket franchise owned by Knight Riders Sports, based in Mumbai. Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan serves as co-leader of the organization.
The ceremonial start featured a “bhumi pujan,” a traditional Hindu ceremony typically performed when construction begins, designed to request divine approval and forgiveness for disrupting the earth.
Cricket has become deeply embedded within America’s immigrant communities worldwide, especially those from South Asia, where the sport commands passionate devotion. Across the United States, cricket enthusiasts, instructors and athletes consider having a purpose-built cricket facility in a significant sports market like Southern California to be a major achievement.
Financial backers anticipate that excitement from professional cricket matches in the area will build momentum leading up to the Olympics, introducing the sport to mainstream American sports fans. Many believe this increased exposure will create valuable opportunities for American-born cricket players to develop their skills.
Venky Mysore, who leads Knight Riders Sports as CEO, explained that creating the Knight Riders Cricket Field represents only the initial phase of attracting typical American sports fans. Mysore expressed confidence in cricket’s business prospects.
“People who watch the Olympics are not necessarily cricket fans,” Mysore explained. “When cricket becomes an Olympic sport, that takes interest and awareness to the next level.”
Knight Riders Sports manages several franchises across the globe — throughout India, the Caribbean region and the United Arab Emirates. However, the Pomona facility marks their first ground-up stadium construction project, according to Mysore. Currently, just three international-standard cricket venues exist in America — located in Texas, Florida and North Carolina. The sport also takes place at various multi-use facilities including the Oakland Coliseum.
Peter Della Penna, who has reported on American cricket for twenty years, notes this marks the first occasion an international cricket competition in America will feature a purpose-built facility. During 2024, organizers constructed a high-capacity temporary stadium specifically for the T20 World Cup in New York, though it was removed following the tournament.
However, hosting cricket matches elsewhere during the LA Olympics would be less than optimal, he explained.
“Cricket players would want to be in the Olympic Village, walk shoulder to shoulder with U.S. track and field athletes, swimmers and basketball players,” he explained. “Cricketers in America have not had such prominence and U.S. cricket really needs that.”
Cricket boasts an extensive and fascinating American heritage. The inaugural international cricket contest occurred between America and Canada in 1844 at Manhattan’s St. George’s Cricket Club in New York. Canada defeated America by a narrow margin before thousands of onlookers, with substantial betting surrounding the match.
Debjit Lahiri, a cricket scholar from Wisconsin, noted that Olympic cricket last appeared in 1900 in Paris, where the Summer Olympics served as a disorganized supplement to the World’s Fair, including competitions like live pigeon shooting. Cricket failed to appear in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis.
Los Angeles cricket started around 1900 through local organizations. It achieved recognition during the 1930s when British expatriate actors established the Hollywood Cricket Club, attracting celebrities including Errol Flynn, Laurence Olivier, Cary Grant and Boris Karloff. The organization’s initial location at Griffith Park was demolished to construct an equestrian facility for the 1984 Olympics. It relocated to Woodley Park in the San Fernando Valley, where numerous ambitious cricketers developed their skills, including Ayan Desai, a 22-year-old emerging talent hoping to represent Team USA in 2028.
Desai, whose family operates a motel close to the upcoming Knight Riders facility, expressed excitement about having a world-class cricket venue practically next door.
“To play the Olympics is special, but to do it in front of your home crowd, in your home city, that would be amazing,” he stated.
Desai, who bowls left-arm fast deliveries, competes for the Seattle Orcas professional team and has participated in four international matches representing the American national squad.
“This is what we’ve needed to grow cricket in Los Angeles,” he stated.
Reggie Benjamin, originally from Antigua and a former American cricketer who now coaches in Los Angeles, maintains doubts about the sport’s prospects.
“I’m happy to see cricket get an opportunity to showcase itself here,” he stated. “But if you can’t get average Americans to come to a game and sit in the stands for three hours, or if you can’t get American kids to play cricket, the game is not going to grow.”
Benjamin expressed frustration seeing domestic talent and community-level programs overlooked while international players are recruited for professional teams and the national squad. He also highlighted management problems that have plagued American cricket and created uncertainty about cricket’s Olympic inclusion in 2028.
These issues reached a crisis point last year when USA Cricket, the nonprofit responsible for developing American cricket, sought federal bankruptcy protection after terminating its agreement with American Cricket Enterprises, the organization behind Major League Cricket. Subsequently, the International Cricket Council, cricket’s global governing body, has temporarily managed the American national cricket team. ACE has also filed legal action claiming improper contract termination.
Nevertheless, major investors like Mysore remain hopeful that USA Cricket and Major League Cricket can establish a collaborative partnership. The organizations benefit each other, he noted. National team selectors frequently recruit from professional league rosters.
“A strong national team is important because it keeps interest alive in the sport,” he stated.
Walter Marquez, who serves as Fairplex CEO, believes cricket has a bright future. As a devoted baseball enthusiast, Marquez has recently been studying cricket extensively. He now understands terminology like “yorker” and recognizes genuine potential for the sport’s expansion.
“For those who don’t know cricket, given an opportunity, they will learn what an exciting game it is, especially the T20 format,” stated Marquez, referencing the shortened version that will be used in the 2028 Olympics.
“We like home runs. We love the long ball. Cricket has a lot of those. American sports fans just don’t know they’re cricket fans yet.”
