Howzat! Cricket at the OS

The chance of Cricket being played at the Olympic Stadium next year moved a step closer today.

Former cricketers Ronnie Irani and Graham Gooch together with Forhad Hussain were pictured at the Olympic Stadium.

Forhad Hussain posted “Great conversations about Cricket today with friends from @EssexCricket @EssexCCB – at the Olympic Stadium”

Irani and Gooch both spent their entire careers at Essex, both captaining the club. Irani is the club’s Cricket Committee Chairman and Gooch the club’s Ambassador. Hussain is a Newham councillor as well as a member of the Essex cricket board.

Last year a deal was agreed “in principle” for Essex to play Twenty20 cricket at the London Olympic Stadium from 2016. Essex chief executive Derek Bowden  said at the time that Kent and Middlesex are also interested in plans to host a T20 festival at the venue.

“In principle, there is an agreement that a two-week festival of T20-type cricket could be played at the Olympic Park from 2016,” he told BBC Essex “Ourselves, Kent and Middlesex have all expressed interest in playing there.”

Essex first revealed a desire to play cricket at the Olympic Park back in 2010 and in March 2012 launched a failed to bid to become a tenant of the stadium.