Cricket Cut From 2018 Asian Games To Save Money For Indonesian Organizers

Cricket "has been cut from the list of sports" at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, according to WISDEN INDIA. With organizers "keen on saving costs," the number of events for the Games in Jakarta and Palembang is reportedly being reduced from 439 to 431. With "no consensus among cricket bodies around the world on including the sport in the Olympics," the move by the Olympic Council of Asia will come as another "blow to efforts to feature cricket in multi-sport events" (WISDEN INDIA, 4/20). INDIAN EXPRESS reported skateboarding, sambo and surfing are among the other sports which have been removed from the program to "reduce the burden" on Indonesian organizers. Meanwhile, there will also be "reduced competitions" in the sports of jiu jitsu, jet ski, sport climbing, paragliding, bridge and wushu. No changes, however, have "yet been made to any of the other 28 permanent Summer Olympic sports due to be contested" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 4/20).