England, India to host ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and 2006

England and India will host the next two ICC Champions Trophy's, according to Malcom Speed, Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Speed, speaking at the launch of the ICC Champions Trophy 2002, which is to be staged in Sri Lanka, confirmed that England would be the hosting country in 2004, with India holding it in 2006.

This year's ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knockout, which will be the third of its kind after earlier tournaments in Bangladesh 1998 and Kenya 2000.

Both those tournaments were straight knockout events - this time the ten Test nations plus Holland and Kenya will be spilt into four groups of three with each team guaranteed a minimum of three games.

The winner of each group will progress straight into the semi-finals.

There will be 15 games in just 18 days with all the matches being played at Colombo's two premier venues: Sinhalese Sports Club and Premadasa International Stadium.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan will kick off the tournament when they take on each other under lights on September 12.

"Every Test playing country is committed to sending their strongest teams to the ICC Champions Trophy and this gives Sri Lankan fans the chance to see their hometown heroes take on the best players in the world," said Speed.

This year's tournament will also see the wider use of technology, with umpires able to refer all decisions, including lbw appeals, to the television umpire.

The ICC are using the event as an experiment, trying to ascertain whether a greater use of technology will improve decision making without unduly slowing the game.

"The ICC is going about it with an open mind," said Speed. "We don't want to make the umpires robots, but are offering them the best use of technology to assist them in their decision making. Everyone wants to see that the right decisions are made. If it is not successful we will discontinue it."

The ICC hopes that all television decisions will be made within 20 seconds.

The ICC Champions Trophy plays a pivotal role in the development of the game by raising funds through the sale of media and sponsorship rights.

The last tournament in Kenya raised US $ 13 million and the ICC are confidant this will be surpassed this year, providing valuable funds for the globalisation of the game.