The ICC Champions Trophy has returned after an eight-year absence. The 50-over tournament started its ninth edition on Wednesday, February 19th, and will run for two and a half weeks in Pakistan and Dubai.
England will be going into the eight-team tournament with their sights set on winning the title. Since winning the 2019 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup, England have struggled in white-ball events and recently suffered a 3-0 series loss to India in the limited-overs format.
In Pakistan and Dubai, England hope to change their fortunes in the returning ICC Champions Trophy. The quadrennial tournament originally ran from 1998 to 2017 before it was axed. Now it is making its triumphant return and already is signed up for its 2029 edition that will be solely in India.
The tournament was initially cut because the ICC wanted to reduce the volume of international events to one per format. The ICC Champions Trophy runs the same one-day format as the Cricket World Cup and was thus removed from the schedule. In 2021, that decision was reversed, and now we have the tournament back and ready to entertain.
This yera's edition is split between Dubai and Pakistan because of ongoing political tensions. India will play all of its fixtures at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium no matter how far they go in the tournament, effectively making the UAE co-hosts of this edition.
Overview
Start date: Wednesday 19th February
Date of Final: Sunday 9th March
Location: Pakistan and Dubai (fixtures involving India only)
TV Channels: Sky Sports – exclusive broadcaster for the UK
Last winner: Pakistan
Prize Pot: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have a hosting budget of $70m (£55.3m). Prize pot stands at $6.9m (£5.45m)
England’s team, chances and key players
England have participated in every Champions Trophy Tournament since its inception. Despite never winning it, they have performed well in the last three outings, reaching the semi-finals in 2009 and then losing the final in 2013, before exiting at the semi-finals again in 2017. The 2013 and 2017 editions came with the added benefits of playing on home soil in England and Wales, something which history shows works to England’s advantage.
In 2019, England won the World Cup in dramatic style during a Super Over against New Zealand and then three years later won the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. These victories made England the first team to simultaneously hold both titles, defining themselves as one of the best ODI sides in the world.
Since then, fortunes have not favoured England, who are coming into the tournament not on the best form. Jos Butler believes that his men can be a "dangerous team" in the Champions Trophy, despite suffering a 3-0 ODI whitewash in India only a week before the tournament.
After the loss, Butler said: “We’ve not played near our potential. We've had some moments in games, never enough to force results or look like winning games of cricket in the last three matches.
"But I think the fact we're not anywhere near our potential yet or playing individually or collectively where we know we can be gives us something to look forward to, believe we can get there and be a dangerous team in the Champions Trophy."
The bookies seem to agree with Butler as England were third favourites to win at 6/1 pre-tournament. They have been boosted by the news that Ben Duckett was passed fit following a groin injury scare. Duckett was one of the few bright sparks in the series defeat to India, forging a great opening partnership with Phil Salt. Despite their partnership ultimately coming short, there were enough signs to bring hope to English fans.
The other brightspark during that defeat was and in recent times has been the safe and reliable Adil Rashid. The BBC called the leg-spinner a "white-ball genius" with his consistent numbers being a true asset to England's ODI teams. Since becoming a staple in the side from 2015, the 37 year old has taken more than 300 wickets, the most by any bowler in that period.
Rashid took seven wickets against India in the three ODIs at an economy rate below 6.50. In the final game he had his best return at 4-64. You would imagine if England go anywhere during this tournament, it will be down to the steady and reliable hand of Rashid.
England squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt and Mark Wood.
Liam Livingston is another player to watch. His unbeaten 124 against West Indies in November was an inspired performance and one that England will need more of if they are to go deep in the tournament. Consistency and reliability is the name of the game for many in the squad and low expectations could suit them. Anything is possible with England, both the sublime and embarrasing.
Teams, format and favourites
There are eight teams involved in the Champions Trophy, all qualifying by virtue of their performances in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Hosts Pakistan are obviously involved, along with debutants Afghanistan. Two-time winners Australia and India are both attending, along with one-time winners New Zealand and South Africa. The final place is taken by Bangladesh, who had their best finish in the 2017 tournament where they reached the semi-finals.
There are two pools of four teams, with each team playing the others in their group once. After the group stage, the top two teams from both groups go into the two semi-finals with the winners contesting the final in Lahore on Sunday, 9th March - though if India make the final then it will be switched to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
If we are to go by the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, then India are favourites for the tournament. They are followed by Australia in second, Pakistan in third, New Zealand in fourth and South Africa in fifth. England are seventh in the ICC rankings, Afghanistan are eighth and Bangladesh are ninth. Sixth-place Sri Lanka did not qualify for this year's Champions Trophy.
Yet the bookmakers do have the odds going slightly against the ICC rankings. Heading into the tournament, India were still favourites, with the bookmakers having them at 7/4. Australia were also still second favourites to win at 4/1 even after two disappointing ODI defeats to Sri Lanka in recent weeks. Third favourites pre-tournament were England, despite ranking at seventh on the ICC list and recent results. They came in at 6/1 to win.
Pakistan and South Africa closely follow at 7/1 and New Zealand were just behind them at 15/2. Afghanistan are the underdogs pick in this tournament and potential dark horses. The odds reflected that, with bookmakers having them at 16/1. Bangladesh were a surprise semi-finalist in 2017 but are not considered likely to repeat that feat - they entered the tournament at 100/1 to win.
Prize Money
The overall tournament's prize pot will be $6.9m, a rise of 53% on the $4.5m (£3.55m) distributed during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. The winners this time will get $2.24m (£1.77m) with the runners-up taking $1.12m (£885k). Each team will receive $125,000 (£98.8k) for participating.
History of Champions Trophy
The ICC came up with the idea for the Champions Trophy to raise funds for the development of the game in non-Test playing countries. The tournament was always intended to differ from the World Cup as it takes place over a shorter period with fewer teams. Eventually, the idea became the inaugural ICC KnockOut Trophy in 1998, developing into the Champions Trophy before the 2002 tournament. The first tournament was a straight knock-out tournament, but adopted a round-robin followed by knock-out format from 2002.
South Africa won in 1998 but have not reached the final again since. New Zealand beat India in the second edition in 2000 and in 2002 India and Sri Lanka were declared joint winners after the final had to be abandoned due to rain without result. West Indies won their only Champions Trophy in 2004 before a spell of Australian dominance saw them win two tournaments in a row in 2006 and 2009. India took their second title in 2013, beating England, before losing to Pakistan four years later in the most recent tournament in 2017.
In 2013, the ICC confirmed that the final Champions Trophy will take place in 2017 so that it could streamline the type of tournaments in cricket, having one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats over four years. In 2021, the ICC announced that the tournament would return in 2025 and even have a 2029 edition locked in already.