The ECB and ICC have announced that The Oval, Edgbaston and Hampshire's Rosebowl will stage the 15-match ICC Champions Trophy from 10-15 September 2004. Teams will be seeded for the tournament on the basis of their official ICC One-Day International ranking on 1 December 2003.

The format of the competition divides competing teams into four groups of three, with the winners of each group progressing to straight knockout semi-finals and final.

The showcase event for the talents of the world's leading one-day cricketers will be contested by the 10 ICC Full Member countries and Kenya, plus the winner of the ICC Six Nations Challenge to be held in the United Arab Emirates in March 2004, in which the Netherlands and Scotland will be competing.

A tournament schedule and ticketing arrangements will be made available once the groupings have been finalised in early December 2003.