Life of Guangzhou - Cricket To Be A Part Of 2010 Asian Games

Cricket is all set to be a new discipline in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou that features more events than ever before, the head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said on Tuesday.

The decision to include cricket was taken at the OCA congress, with heavyweight nations like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka expected to field their top teams.

“Cricket will be played in 2010, but bodybuilding will be cut from the schedule,” OCA chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was quoted as saying to AFP.

“India and Pakistan were the drivers. We are discussing with them how we can arrange it.

“Pakistan and India will come with their best teams because it will be a big competition.”

The Guangzhou games will feature 42 sports compared to 39 at the last Asiad in Doha in December.

There had been a push within OCA member nations to cut the number of sports, but plans to dump cue sports and 10-pin bowling, among others, were this week shelved. Instead, more disciplines will be included.

Cricket was last seen at a major multi-sport event in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, but was dropped for the next two editions in England and Australia, two major cricketing powers.