12:00 AM, January 11, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:55 AM, January 11, 2018

MCC wants BCCI to back Olympics push

The MCC world cricket committee has asked the powerful Indian board to back the bid for the sport's Olympics inclusion, saying it would greatly benefit the game.

Cricket was last played at the Olympics in the 1900 Paris Games and theĀ  ICC has said most of its members backed the inclusion of T20s in Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is open to cricket's future inclusion provided all top teams compete but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the game's richest and most influential board, has been rather reluctant.

After the MCC committee meetings this week, the panel of former players requested the BCCI to reconsider its stance.

"It's one of those things that has frustrated me," committee chairman Mike Gatting said.

"We would like to urge the BCCI to have a look at it again and support the main body of boards that would like to get into the Olympics...

"It seems strange that everyone else seems happy to get in there because it's just going to be so good for the game," said the former England captain.

"Free-to-air TV all over the world. It's only once every four years. It just seems they seem reticent to try and get involved."

The Indian board has not been keen on cricket's Olympic inclusion partly because of apprehensions that BCCI might lose its autonomy and be answerable to the country's Olympic committee.