[SPORTS ★]
CRICKET TO BECOME OLYMPIC SPORT?
(P1) All-time CRICKET greats Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar have called for TWENTY20 cricket to become an Olympic sport.
(P2) Cricket has not been an Olympic sport since 1900, but the sport’s GOVERNING BODY is meeting the International Olympic Committee next month to discuss a possible bid.
(P3) “I’d love to see it as an Olympic sport,” Warne said.
(P4) “I think it’s a great idea and I RECKON T20 is the best format for it,” added Tendulkar.
(P5) Former Australian player Warne and Indian player Tendulkar are captaining RIVAL teams in a series of three Twenty20 All Star matches in the USA in November as they seek to use their fame to help globalise the game.
(P6) Their BACKING for an Olympic bid will increase the pressure on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reverse its resistance to the concept on the grounds that it might DILUTE the sport’s existing competitions, such as the World Cup and World Twenty20.
(P7) In July, the MCC’s World Cricket Committee called for Twenty20 to be included in the 2024 summer Games.
(P8) Following its board meeting in October, the ICC announced that its chief executive David Richardson and director Giles Clarke would hold talks with the IOC in November.
(P9) Cricket’s only Olympic competition came in 1900 when Great Britain took on France in Paris.
(P10) Tendulkar believes Twenty20 is the ideal format for making the sport accessible at the Olympics.
(P11) “It’s the most acceptable format for people who don’t have any knowledge about cricket or the ones who need an introduction to cricket,” said cricket’s all-time leading run-scorer.
(P12) “The game is over in three hours and it’s like any sport – you go to a stadium and after three hours you get back to your work.”
(P13) Warne also favours Twenty20 but is not opposed to indoor cricket being the chosen format – another idea that is ON THE TABLE.
(P14) “If it advertises the game of cricket and the skill and athleticism that are involved in a game of cricket then great,” said Warne.
(P15) “I haven’t seen a game of indoor cricket for a long time so I don’t know how good indoor cricket is at the moment. But the last time I saw it, it was fantastic.
(P16) “Ideally, I’d stick to Twenty20 because it’s over in three hours, it’s easy to organise and you can play two or three games a day. It would help SPREAD THE WORD of cricket.”
WORDS: 405
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/34604610
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Cricket was the PREDECESSOR to baseball. Are either of these sports played in your country?
- Do you watch the Olympics on television?
- Have the Olympics ever been held in your country?
- Twenty20 cricket and indoor cricket are short forms of standard cricket, which can take several days to play. What is the longest sporting event you have ever seen?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Governing body
- Spread the word
- On the table
