After a long wait, cricket has been officially included in the sports programme for next year’s Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

As I first reported in September, cricket was a late inclusion for the next event to be held in several cities in Thailand, including Bangkok, from December 9-20, 2025.

There had been fears that cricket would miss the cut with Thailand dealing with cricket infrastructure issues and had to pull out of co-hosting the under 19 women’s World Cup, which will be entirely held in Malaysia in January and February.

But the situation has improved and cricket’s bid for inclusion was pushed by the Asian Cricket Council, who until recently were led by all-powerful Jay Shah.

ForbesCricket To Be Late Inclusion In 2025 Southeast Asian GamesBy Tristan Lavalette

The ACC announced on Saturday that cricket will be part of the SEA Games.

“The inclusion of cricket in the 33rd SEA Games is another significant step forward for the sport in Southeast Asia,” said ACC chair of development Mahinda Vallipuram, who is also on the International Cricket Council board.

“The ACC, together with the Cricket Association of Thailand and the SEA Games Federation, is working tirelessly to enhance cricket’s profile in the region. We are thrilled to see cricket continue to inspire audiences, nurture emerging talent, and unite nations through its unique appeal.”

Men’s and women’s cricket will be played at the SEA Games, but the ACC did not reveal what formats will be used.

The biennial multi-sport event started in 1959, and features around a dozen nations, but cricket only made its debut in 2017 in Malaysia. It was not part of the subsequent two SEA Games held in the Philippines and Vietnam. But cricket made a comeback last year in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with eight men’s and women’s events played over four formats.

T20s, which received international status and ranking points, and 50-over cricket were played along with unofficial formats T10 cricket and 6s – six per side with games played within 45 minutes.

There were men’s and women’s events in each format. Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand were the participating countries, while Myanmar only played in the women’s competition.

The development is welcome news for Thailand women’s team, who are one of cricket’s feel good stories and currently ranked 13th in the T20I rankings.

The news comes on the back of cricket’s likely exclusion at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. As I first reported in September, logistical challenges are proving difficult to overcome despite the Olympic Council of Asia and Japanese organizing committee publicly pushing for cricket’s inclusion.

The next Asian Games – boasting more sports and athlete quotas than the Olympics – will be held less than two years before the Los Angeles Games, where cricket will end a 128-year Olympic exile.

A final decision is expected next year.