ICC Champions Trophy 2013 - A Time for Cricketing Fans to Congregate Again !

If you thought that the cricket carnival was all over, think again for starting from June 6th is yet another gala cricketing event that goes by the name of ICC Championship Trophy. Dubbed as the mini world cup, the ICC Championship Trophy is cricket’s most prestigious championship next only to the Cricket world cup which unlike the world cup is played after every two years.

Organised first in 1998, the ICC Champions Trophy went through phases before coming down to its final format. Earlier associate members were also allowed to participate and the format followed was the knock out format. But from 2009, it was decided to allow only the top eight ODI teams to compete for the championship glory.

The event set to take place in England and Wales will see the world’s top eight ODI teams competing for coveted title of ICC Champions! To be played in a round robin format the opening match will see India and South Africa taking to the field on 6th June at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The final match will be played on 23 June at Edgbaston, Birmingham. All the more for cricketing enthusiasts to rejoice for both these venues are not very far from the numerous serviced apartments located nearby and you can easily reach the venue by taking a bus, tube or even a taxi.

The current Champions Trophy will mark the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy before its place is taken over by a new ICC World Test Championship (expected to start from 2017).

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Team ( Groups and Match Format )

Teams have been ‘seeded’ and classified into 2 groups comprising of 4 teams each:

Group A: Australia (1), England (5), New Zealand (7), Sri Lanka (4)

Group B: India (2), Pakistan (6), South Africa (3), West Indies(8)

A round robin format has been envisaged for the event which will see each team play every other team in its group once with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will then contest the final for the 7th and final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy and a chance to earn $2,000,000 in prize money.

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Match Dates

A total of 15 matches are scheduled to be played in 2013 Champion Trophy. The opening game will be played on the 6th of June at Cardiff with the finals at Edgbaston, Birmingham on June 26th.

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Match Venues

Only three venues which incidentally happen to be close to the city center and numerous holiday apartments have been shortlisted for this year 15 match sporting event. This include

• Sophia Gardens , Cardiff
• Edgbaston , Birmingham and
• The Kennington Oval, London

Past Winners

Defending Champions Australia under Captain Michael Clarke will be hoping to get third lucky after winning the trophies in 2006 and 2009. Previous winners include South Africa who took the inaugural trophy in 1998; New Zealand in 2000; India and Sri Lanka in 2002 – both ended up as joint winners since the match was washed out twice without any result and West Indies in 2004

Past Winners

Seeking Accommodation in Service Apartments near the match venues

If you are planning to go down to either Cardiff, Birmingham or London to catch any of these matches, then make it point to book a holiday apartment near the venues so as to make best use of time and money. Alternately, you can also rent out short stay cheap serviced apartments in London and then make your way to either Cardiff or Birmingham depending on the match you want to see. Cardiff is some 2 hours by train while Birmingham is an hour away and if you have time to spare it won’t be much of a problem.

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Schedule and Results

Date and Time	Match and Venue Details	Match Results
Thu Jun 6	Group B : 1st ODI - India vs South Africa	India Won by 26 runs.
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Fri Jun 7	Group B : 2nd ODI - Pakistan vs West Indies	West Indies beat Pak by 2 Wickets
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Kennington Oval, London
Sat Jun 8	Group A : 3rd ODI - England vs Australia	England won by 48 runs
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Edgbaston, Birmingham
Sun Jun 9	Group A : 4th ODI - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka	New Zealand won by 1 wicket
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Mon Jun 10 (D/N)	Group B : 5th ODI - Pakistan vs South Africa	South Africa won by 67 runs
13:00 local \| 12:00 GMT	Edgbaston, Birmingham
Tue Jun 11	Group B : 6th ODI - India vs West Indies
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Kennington Oval, London
Wed Jun 12	Group A : 7th ODI - Australia vs New Zealand
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Edgbaston, Birmingham
Thu Jun 13 (D/N)	Group A : 8th ODI - England vs Sri Lanka
13:00 local \| 12:00 GMT	Kennington Oval, London
Fri Jun 14	Group B : 9th ODI - South Africa vs West Indies
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Sat Jun 15	Group B : 10th ODI - India vs Pakistan
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Edgbaston, Birmingham
Sun Jun 16	Group A : 11th ODI - England vs New Zealand
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Mon Jun 17 (D/N)	Group A : 12th ODI - Australia vs Sri Lanka
13:00 local \| 12:00 GMT	Kennington Oval, London
Wed Jun 19	1st Semi Final ODI - TBC vs TBC (A1 v B2)
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Kennington Oval, London
Thu Jun 20	2nd Semi Final ODI - TBC vs TBC (A2 v B1)
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Sun Jun 23	Final ODI - TBC vs TBC
10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT	Edgbaston, Birmingham

To know more visit official website: -

• https://www.eticketing.co.uk/icc-champions-trophy-2013/default.aspx
• http://www.icc-cricket.com/championstrophy