International captains target ICC Champions Trophy 2004 success

The captains of Australia, South Africa and England have set their sights on the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in England this September.

Speaking ahead of the tournament's launch in London today Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith and Michael Vaughan said they would target victory at the tournament at the climax of the English season.

This will be the fourth time the event has taken place and despite their dominance of international cricket, Australia has never reached the final. It is something that Ponting is determined to address.

"There's a great incentive for Australia to win the ICC Champions Trophy," said Ponting.

"It's one trophy we haven't been able to get our hands on and we haven't played anything like our best cricket in past events.

"It's the second biggest one-day tournament we play and I know a lot of the players in our side are keen to make sure we play well in England this time around."

South Africa captain Smith is hoping a strong showing in the ICC Champions Trophy can compensate for South Africa's disappointing performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup on home soil last year.

"It is a tremendously important event for us. We didn't do too well in the last World Cup so it is important to see how far we've come since then and to gain some experience against the world's best.

"I'd like to believe our chances are good and our chances must be good if we prepare well, remain focused and play good cricket."

The composition of England's one-day international side is very different from the one that missed out on the Super Six stage at the last ICC Cricket World Cup and Vaughan believes the ICC Champions Trophy will form an important part of his young team's learning curve.

"We are giving players experience all the time and making sure they learn and we are building all the time to the next World Cup," said Vaughan.

"We are progressing, but we are nowhere near the finished article.

"Playing in England is something that is a strength of ours and we showed last year against Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa that we are a match for any team on our day.

"But to win a trophy you have to play consistently well against good teams for three weeks.

"It is definitely not out of the equation that we could win the ICC Champions Trophy, but we would have to play very well." The ICC Champions Trophy 2004 was launched in London today with Vaughan, Stephen Fleming (New Zealand captain), Mohammad Sami (Pakistan) and Michael Clarke (Australia) in attendance.

For further information on tickets, venues, the trophy and the history of the ICC Champions Trophy visit the official ICC website, www.icc.cricket.org.

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