Cricket at the Olympics - Los Angeles 1932
The 1932 Summer Olympics are set to be hosted in Los Angeles, the only city to make a bid to host the Games. With the world having gone into severe economic depression that has lasted more than 3 years since the Wall Street Crash of 1929 (now known as Black Tuesday), many nations and athletes have been unable to confirm their participation for the 1932 Games and it is understood that fewer than half the participants of the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam will be returning to compete this time. The number of participants for the sport of cricket has also gone down from 20 in 1928 to 16 for 1932. Among those not participating are the national teams of Bermuda, Burma, Ceylon, Rhodesia and Uruguay. In spite of all the gloom surrounding the Olympic Games and most of the world in general, cricket is set to welcome a new participant - Germany, who have been participating in the Olympic Games since 1896 but have never participated in the sport of cricket until now. The full list of participants for cricket include (in alphabetical order):Argentina,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Chile,
China,
Egypt,
Germany,
Great Britain,
India,
Ireland,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
South Africa,
United States of America and the
West Indies. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, constructed in 1923, will be used for all cricket matches set to be played in the tournament.
It is hoped that the Olympic Games' return to the United States for the first time since 1904 can breathe some new life into American cricket, which has gone into a freefall since the end of the Great War. The United States were at one time one of the strongest cricketing nations in the Olympics, winning medals in five consecutive Olympic Games in succession from 1896 (they also won Gold in the 1906 Intercalated Games, which no longer has Olympic status as of 1932), when they stunned a powerful Great Britain lineup led by WG Grace to win a Gold medal for the sport. Since winning a Silver medal in 1912 however, they have won only one match in the three subsequent Olympic Games to follow and have endured two winless campaigns in 1920 and 1928 where they were knocked out without winning a single match. In a bid to add some much needed experience to their squad, the United States have recalled veteran Christy Morris, who is currently in his 50th year and is set to complete 28 years as an Olympic cricketer, taking him well past Bart King's American record of 24 years as a player in the Olympics.
Meanwhile, the IOC have also announced a slight change in the tournament's format - the First Round or Round of 16 will remain in the knockout format, but will be followed by a group stage of 8 teams divided into groups of 4 each rather than the usual quarter-finals. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, following which the bronze playoff and final shall be contested the same way as before. It has recently been argued that today's top cricketers do not get enough matches to play in Olympic tournaments, and therefore do not stand a chance of breaking some of the records set by players who played in the Olympic Games held between 1896 and 1908, before the cup tie or knockout format was implemented for cricket. Players in those tournaments were guaranteed a minimum of 4 to 5 matches regardless of their performance, whereas in knockout tournaments only the teams to qualify for the semi-finals got to play as many as 4 matches. The change in format will ensure that every team able to go past the initial Round of 16 will get a minimum of 4 matches each regardless of performance, and those qualifying for the semi-finals as many as 6 matches. With a whole new generation of potential record-breakers having emerged such as Don Bradman from Australia, George Headley from the West Indies and Wally Hammond from Great Britain, it would have indeed been a great shame if they were not afforded the same opportunities as players of yesteryears who went on to set several records in Olympic cricket that are yet to be broken.
Any who is more good!
In for South Africa!
Irony! A batsman's league having a logo of a ball and stumps!
At least something in favor of bowlers. Motivation for bowlers 
