Anticipation for Cricket in Japan Following the 2026 Asian Games
In an exciting turn of events, the Asian Games coming up next year in Aichi-Nagoya might just be playing host to some hard-hitting cricket action! After a decision by the Olympic Council of Asia and local organizing committee, cricket has made its way into the multi-sports event.
Back in late last year, I uncovered some tension surrounding cricket's inclusion due to the difficulties in finding suitable infrastructure. The challenge lay in the oval-shaped ground needed for cricket, compared to baseball's smaller diamond field. It was widely reported that potential options to repurpose baseball stadiums were rejected because the sites were too small. The Sano International Cr cricket Ground, while the premier ground in the country, is located a good 300 miles from Nagoya.
But fear not! A promising new site has been discovered in the outskirts of Nagoya, about 30 minutes from downtown by transport and located near a train line. This vast park currently boasts three baseball fields, and discussions are already underway to repurpose it into a permanent cricket ground.
The Asian Cricket Council and local cricket administrators are committed to ensuring that the Asian Games leave a lasting legacy in Nagoya and beyond. They're hoping to avoid the expense and wastefulness of erecting a temporary stadium like what happened at last year's T20 World Cup in New York, which reportedly cost $30 million but was promptly bulldozed after the event.
The exact number of teams for the T20 competitions will be decided by the local organizing committee next month, with an expectation of a higher number being allocated for the Asian Games compared to the Los Angeles Olympics, where only six teams per gender will be participating.
Cricket has a storied history in the Asian Games, with India, the sport's financial power, participating and winning double gold in Hangzhou back in 2013, despite skipping earlier editions. The inclusion of cricket in the Asian Games is viewed as crucial for a sport with an estimated global following of over 2 billion people, trying to expand its traditional footprint beyond the British Commonwealth.
Cricket's popularity in Japan, a nation long enthralled by the sport of baseball, which shares some similarities with cricket, could also receive a significant boost. “When I first came to Japan, it was clear that there was talent here - more than I expected," Japan Cricket Association head of operations Alan Curr told me, speaking back in 2023.
Ever since, cricket has been making its way into larger multi-sports events, with appearances in the Southeast Asian Games and other considerations for inclusion in the Olympic Games. Let's keep our fingers crossed for Nagoya in 2026!
- The promising new site discovered for cricket in Nagoya, easily accessible from downtown with a train line, is being considered for repurposing into a permanent cricket ground for the 2025 Asian Games.
- Given the vast park's current facilities of three baseball fields, discussions are already ongoing about transforming the site to accommodate the oval-shaped cricket grounds, addressing the infrastructure challenges faced earlier.
- With cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games, the sport aims to leverage the event to foster growth and expand its fanbase, particularly in Japan, where the sport shares a similarity with baseball and evident talent exists as noted by Alan Curr, head of operations at the Japan Cricket Association in 2023.
