| ICC Champions Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
| Format | One Day International |
| First tournament | 1998 |
| Last tournament | 2009 |
| Tournament format | Round Robin (current) Knock-out (previously) |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Current champion | Australia |
| Most successful | Australia (2 titles) |
| Most runs | Chris Gayle (700) |
| Most wickets | Muttiah Muralitharan (24) |
The ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International cricket tournament, second in importance only to the Cricket World Cup. It was inaugurated as the ICC Knock Out tournament in 1998 and has been played every two years since, changing its name to the Champions Trophy in 2002. Originally, all ten full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) took part, together with (for the first four competitions) two associate members. From 2009, this will be changed to the 8 highest-ranked ODI teams as placed 6 months out from the tournament.
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The Champions Trophy differs from the World Cup in a number of ways. The Champions Trophy takes place every two years, while the World Cup is held every four years. The matches in the Champions Trophy are held over a period of around two weeks, while the World Cup can last for over a month. For 2002 and 2004, twelve teams played a round robin tournament in four pools of three, with the top team in each pool moving forward to the semi-final). A team would play only four games (two in the pool, semi-final and final) to win the tournament. In 2006, eight teams played in two pools of four, with the top two teams in each pool playing in the semi-finals. Losing even a single match would potentially mean elimination from the tournament.
The format used in the Knock Out tournaments differed from the formats used in the Champions Trophy. The competition was a straight knock out, with no pools and the loser in each game being eliminated. Only 8 games were played in 1998, and 10 games in 2000.
The first two tournaments, in 1998 and 2000, were intended to raise the profile of the game in the host nations, Bangladesh and Kenya.
All of the matches in the 1998 ICC Knock Out were played in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The tournament started with a preliminary match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe to decide which would proceed to the Quarter Finals. The tournament was won by South Africa, who beat West Indies in the final.
All of the matches in the 2000 tournament were played in Nairobi, Kenya. There were three qualifying matches before the Quarter Finals, involving Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and England. The tournament was won by New Zealand who beat India in the final.
The 2002 ICC Champions Trophy was held in Sri Lanka, and the 12 teams included Netherlands and Kenya. The final between India and Sri Lanka was washed out twice to leave no result. First, Sri Lanka played 50 overs and then India played two overs before the rain interruption. The next day, Sri Lanka again played 50 overs and India played eight overs. In the end India and Sri Lanka were declared joint winners. The teams played 110 overs and still couldn't find a result.
The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Fifteen matches were held, spread over sixteen days, at three venues: Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The Oval. Twelve teams competed, including Kenya and the USA. West Indies won the tournament final against England by two wickets to take the trophy.
The event was referred to in Wisden 2005 by the editor as a "turkey of a tournament" and a "fiasco"; although the 2006 edition was seen as a greater success due to a new format.[1][2]
The 2006 ICC Champions Trophy was held in India with the final on November 5, 2006. A new format was used. Eight teams were competing in the group phase: the top six teams in the ICC ODI Championship on 1 April 2006, plus two teams chosen from the other four Test-playing teams Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, chosen from a pre-tournament round robin qualifying round. West Indies and Sri Lanka qualified ahead of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
The eight teams were then split into two groups of four in a round robin competition. While Australia and West Indies qualified from Group A, South Africa and New Zealand qualified from Group B for the semifinals. Australia and West Indies reached the final defeating New Zealand and South Africa, respectively. In the final, Australia beat West Indies by 8 wickets to win the trophy for the first time. The venues for the tournament were Mohali, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Mumbai.
In 2006, the ICC selected Pakistan to host the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy.
On the 24th of August 2008 it was announced that the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan has been postponed to October 2009 as several countries were reluctant to visit Pakistan for security reasons. However due to the crowded international schedule around that date, and concerns about whether the security situation would have changed by that time, there was widespread skepticism whether it would actually take place in 2009.[3]
On the 16th of March 2009, an announcement was made that the ICC has recommended that the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy be moved from Pakistan to The Republic of South Africa.[4]
On April 2, 2009, Cricket South Africa confirmed that it will host the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy from September 24 to October 5.
The Board accepted recommendations from the ICC that Liberty Life Wanderers (Johannesburg) and Supersport Park (Centurion) be the host venues.
The details of SA’s hosting of the Champions Trophy were ironed out at a meeting between CSA’s CEO Gerald Majola and ICC General Manager – Commercial, Campbell Jamieson.
Majola confirmed that the six warm-up games will be played at Benoni’s Willowmoore Park, and Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.[5]
Australia beat England by 9 wickets in the 1st semi-final, and New Zealand beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the 2nd semi-final, to set up a final that saw Australia beat New Zealand by 6 wickets, in 45.2 overs.
England and Wales will host the 2013 Champions trophy[6]. World Test Championship has been postponed to 2017 at the earliest amidst earlier reports.[7]
| Year | Venue | Winner | Runners up | Format | Final Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Bangladesh | South Africa | West Indies | Knockout | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 2000 | Kenya | New Zealand | India | Knockout | Nairobi Gymkhana Club |
| 2002 | Sri Lanka | India and Sri Lanka | — | Round robin | R. Premadasa Stadium |
| 2004 | England | West Indies | England | Round robin | The Oval |
| 2006 | India | Australia | West Indies | Round robin | Brabourne Stadium |
| 2009 | South Africa | Australia | New Zealand | Round robin | SuperSport Park |
Leading run scorers[8]
| Player | Matches | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Gayle | 14 | 695 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 13 | 665 |
| Jacques Kallis | 17 | 653 |
| Rahul Dravid | 19 | 627 |
| Ricky Ponting | 18 | 593 |
Highest individual score
| Player | Opposition | HS |
|---|---|---|
| Nathan Astle | USA | 145* |
| Andy Flower | India | 145 |
| Sourav Ganguly | South Africa | 141* |
| Sachin Tendulkar | Australia | 141 |
| Graeme Smith | England | 141 |
Leading wicket takers
| Player | Matches | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralidaran | 17 | 24 |
| Kyle Mills | 12 | 22 |
| Brett Lee | 16 | 22 |
| Glenn McGrath | 12 | 21 |
| Jacques Kallis | 17 | 20 |
Best bowling
| Player | Opposition | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Farveez Maharoof | West Indies | 6/14 |
| Shahid Afridi | Kenya | 5/11 |
| Makhaya Ntini | Pakistan | 5/21 |
| Mervyn Dillon | Bangladesh | 5/29 |
| Jacques Kallis | West Indies | 5/30 |
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