Anticipation for Cricket in Japan Beyond the 2026 Asian Games
Cricket Scores Victory in Nagoya for the 2026 Asian Games
The cricket field, long overlooked in Japan's sports arena, could finally find a permanent home in Nagoya. In a triumphant turn of events, cricket has been officially included in the multi-sport event at Aichi-Nagoya, set for 2026.
After weeks of uncertainty, cricket's destiny has been sealed. The Olympic Council of Asia, alongside the local organizing committee, announced the decision with widespread relief. A battleground for cricket games was the missing piece, but it seems that Nagoya is ready to step up to the crease.
Last year, I broke the news about cricket's potential exclusion due to the difficulty of finding suitable infrastructure. Baseball's smaller diamond fields had proven problematic, and resources stretched thin trying to repurpose baseball stadiums. Alas, previous sites were dismissed as too small, and the premier Sano International Cricket Ground was too far away - around 300 miles from Nagoya.
But, a new site has been unearthed on the outskirts of Nagoya, just a 30-minute journey from downtown via transport and situated near a train line. Thrilling news indeed! This vast park boasts three baseball fields, and preliminary discussions are already centered on transforming it into a permanent cricket ground.
The Asian Cricket Council and local cricket administrators are working tirelessly to leave a lasting legacy in Nagoya. They're hoping to avoid the pitfalls that plagued the T20 World Cup in New York last year. That stadium cost a whopping $30 million, as I revealed, yet was bulldozed straight after the event.
Fingers are crossed for a final decision next month regarding the site's transformation and the number of teams set to participate in the T20 competitions. For the Los Angeles Olympics, only six teams per gender will go head-to-head, but the Asian Games could potentially host more.
Cricket has graced the Asian Games before, in 2010, 2014, and 2023, with 15 men's teams and nine women's teams battling it out. Notably, India, a powerhouse in the cricket world, participated in 2023, securing double gold in Hangzhou.
Cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games is a crucial stepping stone for a sport aiming to break free from its traditional Commonwealth limitations and expand its footprint worldwide. Some analysts even place cricket as the second most popular sport globally[1].
Baseball-obsessed Japan might just find a new love affair on the cricket field. "I first arrived in Japan and was struck by the raw talent," Japan Cricket Association head of operations Alan Curr told me in 2023. Though baseball and cricket share similar characteristics, Japanese players possess impressive hand-eye coordination, a secret weapon for cricket success.
Cricket has come a long way from dismissing multi-sport events, as revealed in my reporting late last year. Players will line up for the Championships slated for several cities in Thailand from December 9-20, 2025, including Bangkok. The T20 and T10 formats will be the order of the day[1].
Fielding, the Japanese cricket enthusiast, might find a new field of play in Nagoya by 2025 as the repurposing of a park on the outskirts of the city is under consideration for transforming it into a permanent cricket ground. The Asian Cricket Council and local cricket administrators are working diligently to create a lasting legacy in Nagoya, with the goal of avoiding the controversial fate of the T20 World Cup stadium in New York, which was dismantled after the event. If the site's transformation and the number of teams participating in the T20 competitions for the 2026 Asian Games are finalized next month, Nagoya could potentially become an Asian hotspot for cricket, much like the previous iterations in cities like Hangzhou and, previously, in 2010 and 2014.
