The ICC Champions Trophy, the 50 over tournament which is considered second to the ICC Cricket World Cup only has been scheduled to take place in England mid next year and the fixtures for the tournament were released today by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today. The top 8 ICC Full Member nations according to the ICC ODI rankings will participate in the tournament scheduled to start on the 6th of June 2013.
The 8 teams will be divided into 2 groups of four teams each with Group A comprising of Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka and Group B will consist of India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies with each team playing one match against their opponents in their respective groups while the top 4 two teams of each group at the end of the 12 preliminary matches will progress into the semi finals. It should be noted that the Bangladesh who are an upcoming cricketing nation from the sub continent have not secured a place in the tournament.
The tournament which will be played across 18 days will be played in 3 venues. Cardiff and Oval will host 3 preliminary round matches and 1 semi final match each while Edgbaston will host 3 preliminary round matches and the final of the tournament.
Interestingly, the ICC has also announced that the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 will be the last in the series which started 14 years ago in 1998 with the ICC World Test Championships scheduled to start in 2017 set to take over the position. Also England will become the only nation in the short history of the series which would have hosted the tournament twice in their soil.
Venues
The Oval (London)
Edgbaston (Birmingham)
Cardiff
Group A
Australia
England
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Group B
India
Pakistan
South Africa
West Indies
ICC Champions Trophy, 2013 / Fixtures
Source
Code:
dailymail
espncricinfo.com
cricturf.com
