Road to LA Olympics: Cricket qualifiers scheduled for January-February 2028

The qualifying tournaments for men’s and women’s cricket at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are scheduled for January-February that year, according to an ESPNcricinfo report.

The dates appear in a global events calendar circulated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to member boards following its October meetings in Dubai. Cricket will return to the Olympics for the first time since 1900.

The qualifiers will each feature eight countries to be finalised by ICC based on the international rankings.

How teams qualify

According to the report, Australia, India, South Africa and Great Britain have already qualified for the women's event as the highest-ranked teams from their respective continents based on their performance at the T20 World Cup earlier this year.

For the men’s competition, the highest-ranked team from each of Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania on December 31, 2026, will qualify.

Hosts USA were declared eligible to participate in both the men's and women's events if they finish in the top 15 of the rankings during the qualification period from June 30, 2026 to December 31, 2026.

The report also outlined how the women’s host berth would be reassigned if the USA failed to meet the requirement.

“If the host (USA) does not meet the ranking criteria by 31 Dec 2026, that spot is reallocated based on the ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027 standings (cut-off 1 March 2027),” ESPNcricinfo quoted the ICC communication to member boards as saying.

England to host 2029 WTC final

The calendar also places the 2029 World Test Championship final in England from June 8 to 12, according to the report.

“Overall, there are 12 men's, seven women's and five Under-19 events (including qualifiers) currently scheduled between the 2027 and the 2031 ODI World Cups.

“While several marquee events were already finalised by the ICC in 2021, multiple tournaments have now been assigned dates even as some dots remain to be connected,” the report said.