24/09/2026
Cricket making it to the Asian Games in Japan this year has an interesting story behind it.
It wasn’t originally part of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 programme. One of the challenges was quite simple there wasn’t a suitable cricket venue.
So Japan had to build one.
In just a few months, a baseball ground at Kurogi Sports Park was converted into a cricket venue, with natural grass, practice nets and the facilities needed for international matches.
And Japan didn’t stop at building the venue. Its own men’s and women’s teams are also taking part in the competition.
For me, this is one of the more interesting things happening around cricket right now. The sport is moving into new markets, and with its return to the Olympics at LA28, there is likely to be more attention on infrastructure, teams and player development in countries where cricket is still growing.
Will we see more countries investing in cricket over the next few years?