Icc Champions Trophy Schedule Released
The ECB has announced the full schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 with Cardiff, Edgbaston and The Oval all set to host England fixtures during the three week tournament, which will feature the world’s top eight One-Day sides.
England, who lost to West Indies in the final of the competition when it was last staged on home soil in 2004, will begin their campaign against Australia at Edgbaston on 8th June, with further group matches against Sri Lanka at The Oval on 13th June and New Zealand at Cardiff on 16th June.
The 50-over competition begins in Cardiff on 6th June with a heavyweight clash between the current ICC World Cup holders, India, and new Test number one side South Africa, winners of the inaugural Champions Trophy tournament in 1998.
The group stages at Edgbaston will also include two head-to-head contests between arch sporting rivals Australia and New Zealand – on 12th June – and India and Pakistan – on 15th June.
Cardiff, Edgbaston and The Oval will each host four group matches in the competition that will see the eight teams divided into two pools of four.
Group A will feature Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka with India, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies contesting Group B.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, hosted at The Oval and Cardiff, with the winners then progressing to the ICC Champions Trophy Final at Edgbaston on Sunday 23rd June.
Tournament director, Steve Elworthy commented: ‘This will be an incredible opportunity for fans to see the world’s very best One-Day sides in action over the space of less than three weeks and the fixture schedule has thrown up a host of exciting head-to-head contests.’
‘The format means every match counts and all eight teams will feel that they are capable of winning the tournament in a competition which is set to be one of the highlights of the 2013 summer.’
Tickets for the tournament are expected to go on sale from early November.
