The ICC Champions Trophy is a tournament organised by the international cricket council (ICC). It started in 1998 and was then named the ICC knock out tournament and it has been played approximately every two years since then. The number of competing teams has varied over the years; originally the ICCs full members took part, however the number has evolved to the stage where the eight best teams in the world six months prior to the tournament.
The 1998 tournament was played in Dhaka, Bangladesh was a success which was won by South Africa after beating the West Indies in the final. The 2000 tournament was played in Kenya, Nairobi and the tournament was won by New Zealand who beat India in the final. The 2002 tournament ended in controversy as the final was washed out two days running half way through the matches between India and Sri Lanka and after playing 110 overs they were declared joint winners. The 2004 tournament was held in England and it was England vs. West Indies in the final, West Indies won that by 2 wickets. A new format was introduce in 2006, this was a turning point in the tournaments history, having had twelve teams in 2004 including Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Kenya and U.S.A the ICC took the bold step of reducing the number too eight teams, the tournament was a great success with Australia and West Indies in the final Australia won easily with eight wickets too spare.
There was some trouble in the supposed 2008 tournament however it was postponed to 2009 due to security issues in Pakistan so it was moved to South Africa, Australia won it for the second year running beating New Zealand in the final.
The upcoming completion is set to be exciting, eight teams split into two groups. It is being set in England this makes it the only country to have held the tournament twice. South Africa are odds on favourites however England are not far behind with home teams having a decent record in the tournament. Some suggest that it will be a repeat of the 2004 tournament which was in England as well; West Indies taking that one. Australia has won the last two in a row but they may see this as preparation for the big one, the Ashes.
This is scheduled to be the last champions trophy with the ICC world test championship scheduled to be played in 2017, this consists of ten teams in a group then a play off then a final; It is a test format and will take a long time to complete.
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