Pakistan to host ICC Champions Trophy 2008, West Indies to host 2010 event

The next two editions of a streamlined ICC Champions Trophy will be hosted by Pakistan in 2008 and West Indies in 2010.

The shorter-format eight-team event will be hosted by Pakistan towards the end of September 2008 and by West Indies in April and May 2010.

"The ICC Champions Trophy is an established part of the international cricket calendar and we were inundated with members that wanted to host this prestigious event," said ICC President Ehsan Mani.

"This means that we have been able to find very sensible time slots for this and other events in the years ahead.

"By reducing the number of teams taking part and moving the scheduling of the event the ICC Champions Trophy will be a very strong component of the exciting package of events through to 2015.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has worked tremendously hard to get to a position where it is ready to host an event of this importance.

"It will be the first nation to host a streamlined ICC Champions Trophy involving only the top eight sides in the LG ICC ODI Championship."

PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said that Pakistan was delighted to have been awarded the event.

"The ICC Champions Trophy 2008 will be one of the biggest global sporting events ever held in Pakistan.

"The decision of the ICC Board to award this event to Pakistan is a tremendous show of support in the PCB, in Pakistan cricket and in our nation.

"We are very honoured to have been given the responsibility of hosting this important event and look forward to welcoming the top cricket nations to our country."

The West Indies will host the 2010 tournament, providing an opportunity for it to take advantage of the facilities that are currently under construction for the ICC Cricket World Cup next year.

"I'd like to thank the ICC Board for understanding that it is important that we have further opportunities to make use of the excellent facilities that we are building for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007," said West Indies Cricket Board Chairman Ken Gordon.

"The hosting of the ICC Champions Trophy provides the perfect opportunity for us to build upon the momentum of next year's ICC Cricket World Cup for the long term benefit of cricket in the region."

A decision on whether the annual ICC events from 2012 to 2014 will be ICC Champions Trophies or ICC Twenty20 World Championships will be made after the success of the events through to 2009 has been evaluated.

Hosting rights have though been allocated for the events in 2012 and 2014. Sri Lanka has earned the right to host the 2012 event while Bangladesh will host the major ICC event in 2014.

"Sri Lanka has an excellent tradition of hosting ICC events and in recent times they have successfully staged two ICC U/19 Cricket World Cups and one ICC Champions Trophy," said Mr Mani.

"We have every confidence that they will stage another memorable event in 2012 be it Twenty20 or ODI cricket.

"Bangladesh hosted perhaps the most remarkably successful ICC event during my time as ICC President, the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2004. The fact that they have now been asked to host a major ICC event in 2014 as well as act as a joint host of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is testament to the progress that has been made in Bangladesh cricket over recent times."

Although there were several excellent submissions to host the 2013 event it was decided to defer a decision on the host of this event pending further review. A re-submission process will be undertaken specificially for this 2013 event before the end of 2009.

The decisions taken during a meeting of the ICC Board in Dubai on Sunday are subject to ratification at the ICC's Annual Conference in London in July.