ICC Champions Trophy 2006 Format

The ICC Champions Trophy, which started as a knock out tournament, has been played in the Round Robin League format since 2002. In 2002 and 2004, the 12 participating teams were spilt in four pools of three, with the top team in each pool moving forward to the semi-final.

For the ICC Champions Trophy 2006, the Board of ICC Development (International) Ltd (IDI) approved a new format at its meeting in Dublin in June 2005. The new format will see eight teams split into two groups of four with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the semi-finals and final.

The eight teams will comprise the top six teams in the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April 2006 and the top two teams from the qualifying round of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006.

The qualifying round will be a four-team round robin play-off for the teams ranked 7-10 (Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) in the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April 2006. This round will commence from October 7, 2006 while the main stage will start from October 15.

The ICC expects the new format to pave the way for an exciting and high-quality cricket tournament.