What changed
The International Cricket Council will support the Chinese Cricket Association in establishing a Centre of Excellence and hosting a Tier 2 event in China. ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said the proposed high-performance centre would follow the model of the ICC Academy in the UAE.
China already has a 1,500-capacity cricket venue, and the sport is present in nine of the country’s 22 provinces. The ICC and CCA are also prioritising women’s cricket, with the association applying a 50 percent female-inclusion policy across its programmes.
Why it matters
This is cricket trying to build roots, not just stage a one-off spectacle.
The Centre of Excellence could give China a permanent base for player development, coaching and high-performance programmes. A Tier 2 event would add a competitive calendar around that infrastructure. The location, timing, funding, format and participants have not been specified, so the immediate plan remains a framework rather than a finished tournament package.
The timing is deliberate. Cricket is scheduled to return to the Olympics at LA28 after 128 years, and its visibility in China rose after the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2022. Gupta said Olympic inclusion could bring more government attention, investment, facilities and player-development pathways. China’s National Games could become another route into the country’s domestic sporting system, but cricket’s inclusion there is still only a possibility.
Women’s cricket is the clearest test of whether this becomes a broader sporting project. The CCA’s 50 percent inclusion policy gives the expansion effort a defined target, rather than leaving growth dependent on a small existing player base. The next meaningful signs will be concrete: a named centre, a confirmed event schedule and evidence that more provinces, coaches and young players are being brought into the system.
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