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Scottish cricketer Mark Watt has expressed his interest to represent Great Britain at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly discussing about sending a combined team of England and Scotland at the Summer Olympics.
Wisden has picked Watt in their combined playing XI for the men’s event. The left-arm spinner has 80 wickets in 67 T20Is at an economy rate of 6.88 with best figures of 5/27. The Scottish cricketer has also scalped 95 wickets in 67 ODIs.
Other than English players, the post also included Ireland’s Mark Adair in Great Britain’s playing XI. Meanwhile, the women’s team comprised Rachel Slater and Sarah Bryce from Scotland. Jos Buttler and Natalie Sciver-Brunt were picked as the captains for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively.
Reacting to the post on X, Watt wrote:
“Yeah keen, very keen.”
“It can only be a positive thing for our game” – Ricky Ponting on inclusion of cricket in Olympics
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has lauded the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics. The 49-year-old said the USA will be ready for the major event amid growing Major League Cricket. Speaking to the ICC, Ponting said:
“It can only be a positive thing for our game. I've sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years and it's always been on the top of almost every agenda – how do we get the game back into the Olympics? And finally, it's there.
“It's only four years away. Once again, in the US by that stage, hopefully, with MLC (Major League Cricket), another four years down the track hopefully growing. Who knows, there might even be more teams in the MLC by then. I think it also gives cricket a chance to break into the grassroots level in the US,” he added.
Ponting, who recently coached reigning MCL champions Washington Freedom, reminisced about his memories from his participation in the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He said:
“I was lucky enough to play in the Commonwealth Games and just to be around the athletes in the villages and stuff was quite a surreal environment to be in for a cricketer.”
Unlike any ICC event, the runner-up and third-placed teams will also go home with silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the Olympic Games. The winning team will be rewarded the gold medal.
