Background information on the ICC Champions Trophy
This is the sixth time the tournament will take place
It started in 1998 and has taken place every two years since that date
By the end of this year’s event, the ICC Champions Trophy will have raised US$75million for developing cricket among the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate Members
The tournament was called the ICC Knock-out on the first two occasions it was contested, in 1998 and 2000
The tournament’s name was changed to the ICC Champions Trophy for the 2002 event and subsequent tournaments
Previous venues for the tournament have been Bangladesh (1998), Kenya (2000), Sri Lanka (2002), England (2004) and India (2006)
The top eight teams on the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship as of 11 March 2008 have been invited to take part in this year’s tournament. Previous events have involved nine teams (1998), 11 teams (2000), 12 teams (2002 and 2004) and 10 teams (2006)
The 1998 and 2000 tournaments had a straight knock-out format; the 2002 tournament was contested by the 10 Full Members plus Kenya (automatic qualification because of its ODI status) and the Netherlands (winner of the ICC Trophy 2001); the 2004 tournament was contested by the 10 Full Members, Kenya (automatic qualification because of its ODI status) and the USA (winner of ICC Six-Nations Challenge held in the UAE, March 2004); the 2006 event included the top six teams on the ICC ODI Championship table as of 1 April 2006 joined by Sri Lanka and West Indies who qualified from the preliminary round that was also contested by Zimbabwe and Bangladesh
The number of matches in each previous tournament were nine (1998), 10 (2000), 15 (2002 and 2004) and 21 (2006). For the 2008 event, there will be 15 matches
Previous winners are: South Africa (beat the West Indies in the 1998 final); New Zealand (beat India in the 2000 final); Sri Lanka and India (declared joint winners after the final was rained off), West Indies (beat England in the 2004 final) and Australia (beat West Indies in the 2006 final)
ICC Champions Trophy 2008
This year’s tournament will feature the top eight sides from the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table on 11 March 2008. They are: Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies
The teams have been divided into two groups according to their seeding.
Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies.
Group B: South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England
Each side plays all other sides in its group. The top two teams from each group progress to the semi-finals with the top side from Group A playing the second-placed side from Group B and the second-placed side from Group A playing the top side from Group B
The winners of those two matches shall contest the final
The total prize money for this year’s tournament is US$2.5million. How it will be divided up will be finalised in due course
The total number of matches in this year’s tournament will be 15
The ICC Champions Trophy 2008 will be staged at three venues: Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi
All matches will be day-night ODIs
ICC Champions Trophy 2008 sponsors and licensees
GLOBAL PARTNERS: Reliance Communications, Pepsico, LG Electronics
OFFICIAL SPONSORS: Emirates, Reebok, Yahoo
LOCAL PARTNERS: To be announced in due course
The new-look ICC Champions Trophy 2008, being held in Pakistan in September, is a short, sharp, elite event where only the top eight teams in the world are invited to take part.
The event showcases only the very best players in the world – it is the only event this year that brings together all the top batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders. Matches are all set to be of high intensity because due the short format, no team can afford to lose more than one match.
A tournament of this scale is only possible thanks to the significant financial investments made by companies so they can obtain an official association with it and therefore benefit from that association.
Group A - Pakistan v West Indies
