Why Windies and England will struggle to do an encore

Gayle and Sarwan celebrate their 2004 triumph. A repeat performance will be extremely difficult © Getty Images

In the last edition of the Champions Trophy, West Indies were the winners and England came out second best. Much has happened since September 2004, though, and neither of those two sides will be favoured to make it to the final stages of the tournament this time around. With the qualifying matches getting underway in a couple of days, Cricinfo looks at the form of teams and players in the last two years, since the last Champions Trophy.

There's no surprise at the top of the table, but South Africa aren't that far behind in terms of winning percentage. The news isn't as good for West Indies and England, though. Both languish among the bottom four in terms of win percentages since October 2004, though, admittedly, Bangladesh's numbers are a bit flattering: seven of their wins came against Kenya, and five more against a severely depleted Zimbabwe.

Australia and South Africa again lead the way with both bat and ball: Australia's batsmen have scored 13 more runs per dismissal than their bowlers have conceded to take one, which indicates just how dominant they have been over the last couple of years (and beyond). England and West Indies again bring up the rear, with the difference between batting average and bowling for West Indies being particularly alarming.

And finally, a table where England are in front, but this one is for a rather dubious distinction: the team which concedes the most number of wides and no-balls. England are well ahead of the other sides, including the inexperienced Zimbabwe, though those who want to be kind to the team will say they play most of their games in England, where the conditions make it far more difficult to control the white ball. Notice also that Australia concede exactly as many wides and no-balls as Bangladesh. That's a stat that will impress Dav Whatmore.

So who have been the form players in ODIs in the last couple of years? The first two names in the list aren't much of surprise - Michael Hussey and Kevin Pietersen have been outstanding in this period - but the third name certainly is. Boeta Dippenaar averages 50 during this period, though his strike rate isn't up there with the best. It's interesting to note that among the top ten in terms of averages, eight of them also score more than 80 runs per 100 balls.

The corresponding list for bowlers has a few surprises too - Nathan Bracken is in second place, while Ajit Agarkar, Brad Hogg and Andrew Hall all make the cut. Muttiah Muralitharan, on the other hand, doesn't - in the last two years, he only averages a modest 31.64, with 50 wickets in 39 matches.

Herschelle Gibbs has finally decided he will make the trip to India, and his team will be pleased with that decision: not only is he one of the pillars of South African batting, he has also showed outstanding form in Champions Trophy games, averaging 86 in five matches. In fact, South Africa occupy two of the top three spots, with Jacques Kallis averaging nearly 70 as well. One big name conspicuous by its absence is that of the Australian captain - in eight Champions Trophy matches, Ponting only averages 31.16. Along with his team's record in the tournament, this is one stat he will want to improve upon as well.

Muralitharan may not have been in glittering form in the ODIs of late, but in Champions Trophy matches he has been the main man both in terms of taking wickets and keeping the runs in check. Australia have a couple of entries in this list, but their champion strike bowler is missing - Glenn McGrath's 11 wickets in this competition have come at 23.09 apiece.