With breakdancing getting the flick for the next Olympics in LA in 2028 and T20 cricket coming in, Australian legend Ricky Ponting has put his hand up to lead the country’s quest to win gold. Breakdancing made its debut at the Paris Games, with Aussie athlete ‘Raygun’ sparking an international firestorm with her bizarre performance.

But organisers of the LA Games have chosen not to carry it in four years’ time, and there’s speculation we might have seen the last of it as an Olympic sport. But one sport given the green light for LA is cricket – in its shortest form Twenty20.

And former Australia captain Ponting has revealed his desire to be involved in the Aussie campaign, declaring it could be a watershed moment for the game in the United States. Ponting said he wants to be there wearing the green and gold, and even if he’s not a coach he’d been keen to help out as a mentor.

Australia would be odds-on to qualify given the country’s standing in world cricket, but the qualification process is yet to be confirmed. Ponting coached the Washington Freedom in America’s Major League Cricket T20 competition, and helped the team win the title last month.

Ricky Ponting hoping cricket can surge in American market

Steve Smith was Washington’s captain, and Ponting says the Olympics could be the breakthrough cricket needs in the massive US market. “It can only be a positive thing for our game,” Ponting said.

“I’ve sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years and it’s always been on the top of almost every agenda – how do we get the game back into the Olympics? And finally, it’s there. It’s only four years away. Once again, in the US by that stage, hopefully, with MLC (Major League Cricket), another four years down the track hopefully growing. Who knows, there might even be more teams in the MLC by then.

“I think it also gives cricket a chance to break into the grassroots level in the US. But the thing about the Olympic Games, I mean, it’s not the host nation. It’s about the audience that it opens up. The Olympic Games being viewed by so many people all around the world, it just opens up completely different audiences to our game that’s seemingly growing on a daily basis anyway. It can only be a real positive thing for the game.

“Facilities and infrastructure and those things are going to be key and how many teams they actually decide on. I think it’s only six or seven teams that they’re talking about, so qualification is going to be at a premium, how you actually qualify to get into the Olympic Games. So all those things to think about, I’m really excited about where the game’s headed and the growth of different markets that we’re seeing emerge.”

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Ricky Ponting keen to represent Australia at Olympics

Ponting was part of the Australian cricket team that played at the Commonwealth Games in 1998. The Aussie legend said getting to the Olympics was on his wish list.

“It’d be a pretty nice job, I reckon, to be a mentor around a cricket team in the Olympic Games, to hang out,” Ponting told the ICC review. “I was lucky enough to play in the Commonwealth Games and just to be around the athletes in the villages and stuff was quite a surreal environment to be in for a cricketer.

“So, look, I wouldn’t say no, but I think there’ll be a lot of people putting their hands up to try and be a mentor or a coach for an Aussie team in the Olympic Games. It’d be special to be a part of, so who knows? We’ll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens.”