The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday confirmed that the organisers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics have recommended cricket for inclusion at the Games.

After a two-year process, in which the ICC worked closely with LA28, the list of sports to be added in LA included cricket, which will now be put forward for approval to the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

If the proposal is approved, cricket will return to the summer Olympics 128 years after it made the only appearance in the 1900 Paris Games

“We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics,” said ICC Chairman Greg Barclay, in a statement.

“Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.

I’d like to thank LA28 for their support during the new sport evaluation process over the last two years and we look forward to the final decision being taken at the IOC Session, in India, during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup next week,” he added.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, cricket didn’t feature in the original list of 28 sports finalised by the IOC last February. Its efforts to be part of the Olympics received a massive boost last July when it was added to a shortlist of nine to be reviewed by the IOC for addition.

The cricket was originally vying for a spot alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, break dancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsport.

During its presentation in front of LA28, the ICC recommended a six-team T20 event for both men and women. The participating teams would comprise the top-six ranked sides in the ICC’s men’s and women’s T20 rankings on a cut-off date. The ICC proposed the T20 format as the best format since both LA28 and the IOC had emphasised that the format should be one in which there is a world championship conducted.

The report further said that it is not confirmed if the ICC had finalised a tournament structure, which until recently was still under discussions.

Notbaly, cricket has featured only once in the global games, 128 years before the proposed event at LA 2028. In Paris 1900, just one match was played where Britain beat hosts France to the gold medal. Back then, the game was played over two days and consisted of four innings like a first-class fixture.