What's the point of the Champions Trophy?

In the Independent, Stephen Brenkley argues that the Champions Trophy has always been a pointless tournament, yet there is the chance that this year's competition will help revive the 50-over game.

Fashions in cricket come and go. Today's cool switch-hitting is tomorrow's reckless gamble. This week's doosra is next week's run-in with the beak for chucking. But one thing has remained constant: the Champions Trophy is a waste of time and effort, a meaningless tournament without context or tradition. In all its manifestations it has been a failure from its inception in Dacca in 1998 via Nairobi, Sri Lanka, England and India.

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There is, however, the sense of genuine competition. Two groups of four with each team playing three times will be followed by two semi-finals and a final. It is almost perfect knockout cricket and that should affect the approach of the players.

In the same newspaper, Brenkley looks at 11 players who have it in them to revive the 50-over format.

Richard Hobson in the Times writes that the tournament is an anachronism and the biggest question going into the opening game is not “Who are the best?”, but “Why are they here at all?”