Londoners and cricket fans worldwide are being urged to sign a petition to get cricket included in the 2012 Olympic Games. London Assembly Member and cricket enthusiast, Murad Qureshi, launched an online petition some six months ago which aims to lobby the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Cricket Conference (ICC) and London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) to include an international 20-over cricket competition as part of the 2012 Olympic Games. To date, well over 2,000 people have visited and signed the website and Facebook pages: 30% of visitors are from USA, 27% of visitors from UK.

Traditionally, the host Olympic nation introduces a national sport as a "demonstration" sport as part of its games, with the long-term view that this should become an official Olympic sport in future years. This all changed with the Beijing Olympics. Demonstration sports were removed and host cities are now showcasing indigenous sports as part of the "cultural Olympiad". During the Beijing Olympics, "Wushu", an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts, was incorporated into the cultural Olympiad.

Speaking at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium following the Wushu tournament, Murad said: "If the Chinese can show Wushu to the world, I can see no reason why London shouldn't have cricket in 2012. It is this country's summer game after all."

Cricket last played at the Olympics in 1900

Cricket was last played in the Olympics in 1900 when Great Britain beat France. The French team consisted of Britons living in Paris, reportedly mostly members of the British Embassy. With the commercial development of Twenty20 Cricket through the England And Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the possibility of a short form of the game acceptable to international, traditionally non-cricket playing nations being played at the Olympics becomes a viable proposition.

Launching the campaign, Murad said: "London is the historic home of cricket, a sport which espouses the Olympic ideal of fair play through the "spirit of the game" now enshrined in the official rules by MCC. Hosting the Olympic Games in 2012 provides London with an ideal opportunity to showcase cricket to huge global audience and, in return, to increase interest in the Olympic Games amongst nations that don't engage as fully with traditional athletics.

"I am encouraging Londoners and cricket fans worldwide to sign our online petition. By the time of the next Olympic meeting at the Assembly this autumn, I would like to be able to present the support of vast numbers of cricket fans to the IOC and LOCOG as the first step in re-introducing cricket to the Olympic Games."

Logistics for hosting cricket 202 at the London Olympics 2012

• The infrastructure is already in place - no new stadiums or large capital investment would be needed.
• Any additional revenue expenditure would be covered by ticket sales and TV revenue generated by hosting just a new popular form of cricket during the games.
• Although Lords is currently reserved for the Archery competition, county grounds for Middlesex, Surrey, Kent and Essex could be available including the Oval, Beckenham and Uxbridge.
• During the Olympics, no international sport is allowed to take place within 200 miles of an Olympic venue. Given the Olympics happens within the traditional cricket season, ICC and ECB will have an issue scheduling Test Matches and One Day Internationals (ODIs) during the whole of August.
• The provision of an ICC sanctioned international tournament would allow ECB and ICC to deliver international cricket within the UK under an Olympic umbrella during this time period.

Cricket at the Olympic Games

• Cricket was last played in the Olympics in 1900 when Great Britain beat France (Holland and Belgium withdrew at the last minute).
• In December 2007, the International Olympic Committee gave cricket the status of a "recognised sport" after the first day of its executive committee meeting.
• Cricket was given this status, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which confirm to certain criteria of the movement in terms of youth promotion and anti-doping policies, for a two-year period.
• "Cricket will benefit from this status for two years and could receive it permanently in 2009," said IOC communications director Gisele Davie
• Further information about recognised Olympic sports, click here

Sign the Petition

Click to sign the petition at www.twenty20for2012.com

The Twenty20 for 2012 campaign also has created a Facebook page to further garner support. This has been supported by, amongst others, the 'Barmy Army' Facebook group.