Ponting: 'Champions Trophy wins rank just behind World Cups, Ashes'

How important is the ICC Champions Trophy for players? It's a very important tournament for the player when you consider that the 50-over game has been abit maligned over the last few years, with how big T20 cricket has become so quickly. The big tournaments you play in are the ICC World Cup and the Champions Trophy, so it's a very big and important event for the players. And the fans? I think the fans place it in the same regard as the players, especially the way the Champions Trophy is formatted now, with fewer teams than originally. I remember when I started playing Champions Trophy, almost all of the Associate nations were playing. In the UK in 2004, we played USA in the group stage - the game was over six overs, [us] chasing just 65. It was a pretty ordinary advertisement for the