DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC)
THE INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday confirmed the groupings for its 2006 Champions Trophy tournament that the West Indies have to qualify for although they are defending champions.
The groupings - for the six top-rated teams - were decided by the current one-day rankings table, and the six teams will be joined by two of four teams, including West Indies, which are ranked between seven and 10 and must contest the qualifying series starting October 7 that precedes the tournament in India.
West Indies are currently ranked eighth in the world, and will tackle seventh-rated Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe (9th) and Kenya (10th) in a round-robin play-off for two of the available spots for the eight-team Champions Trophy.
In the Championship round, or second round, world number one Australia, India, England and the number two qualifying team will play in Group A, while Group B will have world second-ranked South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and the team advancing second from the qualifying play-offs. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals with the winners of these matches contesting the final on November 5.
MATCH SCHEDULE
The full match schedule, to be finalized soon, will have 22 matches in 21 days and ICC President Ehsan Mani said at a Press Conference yesterday that the tournament is viewed as a major event on the ICC's calendar.
"This is a very important tournament, generating a lot of revenue which is being used for the development of the game in associate member countries and elsewhere. We have distributed over 100 million dollars from this tournament's revenues from 2002 onwards," Mani said. With the amount of international cricket currently played and the fear of player burn-out there is a thought that some teams may not send their full squads to the tournament.
However, Mani said that he would be disappointed if that happened and expected to see the best teams appearing in India.
West Indies won the last ICC Champions Trophy in September 2004, snatching a dramatic two-wicket victory over England with seven balls to spare in fading light at The Oval in London.
Chasing 217 for victory, West Indies claimed the title at 218 for eight after a match-winning ninth-wicket partnership of 71 between Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw.
The pair kept their composure and reached the target after the Caribbean side had appeared to be facing defeat at 147 for eight.
Grouping (with world ranking in bracket)
First round:
Sri Lanka (7th in LG ICC Rankings on 1 April)
West Indies (8th)
Zimbabwe (9th)
Bangladesh (10th)
Second round:
Group A
Australia (1st)
India (3rd)
England (6th)
Qualifier 2
Group B
South Africa (2nd)
Pakistan (4th)
New Zealand (5th)
Qualifier 1
