With the likes of AB De Villiers, Joe Root and Virat Kohli taking to the stage this summer for the ICC Champions Trophy it’s not one to miss. However, if your knowledge is slightly thin on the ground and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, then we’ve put together a brief history and some ICC trivia for you.
Got absolutely no idea what we’re talking about? Have a look at our Beginners Guide to cricket, produced just for you.
What is the ICC Champions Trophy?
The ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC); the second biggest tournament after the Cricket World Cup. Held every two – four years, for around three weeks.
2017 will see the ICC Champions Trophy hosted by England and Wales, across three different venues: The Oval (London), Edgbaston (Birmingham) and the SWALEC (Wales). The round robin matches will run from Thursday 1 – Sunday 18 June.
There are eight qualified teams, these are: England, Bangladesh, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. A team qualifies by being in the top 8 ICC ODI rankings as of 30 September 2015. Group A consists of England, Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand and Group B consists of: India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Each team will play every other team in its group once. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals, where the winner of Group A will play the runner up of Group B, and the winner of Group B will play the runner up of Group A – thus ending in the final.
History of the ICC Champions Trophy
This is the 8th edition of the tournament, having been played approximately every two years since it’s inauguration in 1998. From 1998 to 2004 it was called the Knock Out Tournament, owing to it consisting of knock out rounds. The subsequent name change was a result in a change of format – to a round robin tournament and therefore re-titled as the ICC Champions Trophy.
Along with the title amend, the number of teams competing has also varied. Originally all ICC’s full members took part and between 2000-2004 even associate members participated. However since 2009, only the eight highest-ranked ODI teams are invited. The cut off for making the top eight is around a year and a half before the tournament starts.
Top Facts and Figures
1.The most successful team is Australia joint with India, who have won two titles each.
2. The leading run scorer of the tournament belongs to Chris Gayle of the West Indies – 791 runs in 17 matches
3. The leading wicket taker of the tournament belongs to Kyle Mills of New Zealand – 28 wickets in 15 matches
4. The first tournament was held in Bangladesh, 1998
5. New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets in the inaugural match of the tournament at Dhaka on October 24, 1998.
6. South Africa defeated West Indies by 4 wickets to win the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy (or known then as the ICC Knockout Trophy).