JULY 6 - THE new chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has said that he wants to try to get the sport included in the 2012 Olympics even though the earliest it can become part of the programme is technically 2020.

 

Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the  Pakistian Cricket Board, made his promise after replacing Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga as the new ACC chief for a two-year period during the Council’s annual meeting held today.

 

He said: "Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world and deserves to be in the Olympics.

 

“We will try our level best to get it included in the London Olympics.”

 

Ashraf said that cricket has already made a major breakthrough by being included in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

 

He is extremely unlikely to succeed in his quest, however.

 

The programme for the 2012 Olympics was set at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) session at Singapore in 2005 when baseball and softball were dropped and, surprisingly, not replaced, meaning that there will be 26 instead of 28 sports in London.

 

The programme for 2016 will be voted on by the IOC at its session in Copenhagen in October 2009.

 

Seven sports will be up for election, including rugby sevens, golf and squash, but not cricket.