China and cricket will be a good match

The Rio dust has settled. Time to ponder ways of boosting the future medal tally. Along with regular efforts, innovative thinking could help.

How about participating in, and excelling at, disciplines where China has little or no presence? Think soccer. Potential new opportunities? Think rugby and golf. How to intelligently anticipate, and prepare for, the future? Think cricket.

Signs are cricket, akin to baseball in some respects, could be part of the Olympics sooner than later. Its governing body International Criket Council has been globalizing the game. In recent decades, 14 teams, including Hong Kong, have joined six cricket majors in international cricket. Several neutral venues have cropped up. In all, 105 countries run ICC-recognized local competitions.