South African fast bowler Wayne Parnell advocated for the T10 format to be cricket’s flag bearer in global sporting events like the Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
Parnell, who is representing the Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabi T10 Season 6, believes that the game’s shortest and most entertaining format could finally see the sport return to the Olympics.
“I would love to see T10 cricket make it to the Olympics,” Parnell said in an exclusive chat.
“I have mentioned it a couple of years ago as well, this is the easiest format to try and get into the Commonwealth Games firstly and hopefully, the Olympics. I don’t know when that will happen. It would be really awesome to watch cricket feature in such global events.”
In the second edition of the Olympics in 1900, cricket made its debut in the world’s biggest sporting stage. Only two teams took part in the competition, with Great Britain and France going face-to-face for the gold medal.
England won the match by 158 runs but the fact that it took two days for the fixture resulted in the sport being sidelined. Since then, multiple attempts have been made to push the sport via the 50-over and 20-over formats, but Parnell feels T10 might do the job.
“I definitely see this format taking the sport into the Olympics in the future. You can organise five or six games in one day, which isn’t possible with other formats. I’m sure they can get a couple of drop-in wickets and get the game rolling,” Parnell explained.
The Proteas pacer also feels that T10 is a great medium to introduce the format to countries that are not accustomed to the sport.
“This is such a short game and it can get people involved easily. Longer formats take up a lot of time and people are really busy with their jobs and lives, it is not possible for them to spend so much time. T10 is a short and exciting format that will bring more people to watch the matches.
“It is also a format that anyone can play in their leisure time. It is a nice format to introduce the game to a newer audience. Hopefully we can take this format take off,” Parnell wished.
The Northern Warriors have won two of their last three matches in ADT10 Season 6, keeping their hopes of making it to the semi-finals alive.
