Cricket will return to the Games for the first time in 128 years, following its sole appearance at the ill-fated 1900 Paris Olympics, widely regarded as one of the biggest failures in modern Olympic history.

The 2028 Games will be held on the Pacific coast, specifically in Los Angeles, but there is talk of bringing cricket to the other North American coast, the Atlantic.

While no formal proposals have been made, representatives of LA28 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) went on a fact-finding mission to theT20 World Cup, attended matches at the temporary Nassau County Stadium on Long Island, New York State, and were impressed enough to want to host the competition there.

One of the biggest potential benefits of reintroducing cricket to the Olympic movement is the renewed attention it would attract from large South Asian markets such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, which would mean strong local ticket sales and respect for international time zones.

According to the World Bank Group, the combined population of the three former British colonies up until the 1940s, when India gained independence (also separating from Pakistan, and later Bangladesh), was an impressive 1.8 billion (Pakistan 235,824,862, India 1.42 billion and Bangladesh 171,186,372).

The potential audience, the fans of sport returning to the Olympic Games, is so great that if we add up the total population of Europe, the Americas (North, Central and South) and Oceania together, the IOC, eager for new audiences and new business, has pointed out.

In this sense, an 11am match in New York would be prime time in India (8.30pm). If played in Los Angeles, an additional 3-hour time difference would mean that an 11am match would be closer to midnight in India (11:30pm), potentially reducing viewership in countries where cricket is the main sport, more popular than even the sport of kings, football.

At the moment, it's just an idea that's gaining momentum, although no one dares to confirm it publicly, because the International Cricket Council (ICC) hasn't come out against holding the tournament where it should be, in Los Angeles and the surrounding counties, with a population of nearly 10 million.

The ICC understands the importance of integrating the sport into the Games, where the Olympic values are embodied from the Olympic Village to the competitions themselves, and the true experience of the Olympic Games, which can only be maximised in the host city, presents a major dilemma.

The time difference can be overcome by scheduling games in the Californian afternoon and evening. Although not in prime time, the potential audience and rights sales prices would still be significant in countries where cricket is watched around the clock.

It wouldn't be the first time the event has been played away from Los Angeles. In fact, it has happened in Los Angeles itself, with the 1984 Summer Olympics hosting a number of football matches almost 5,000km away in Boston, Massachusetts.

Surfing was not held in Tokyo at the last Games, nor will it be in Paris (it will be held over 15,700 km away in Tahiti). Football has always been used to changing venues, and even the equestrian events changed cities for the Beijing 2008 Games, moving from the Chinese capital nearly 2,000 km away to the impressive city-state of Hong Kong in southern China.