A month-long celebration of one-day cricket, the fifth ICC Champions Trophy brings together the 10 Test-playing countries for the only time outside the ICC Cricket World Cup.

The tournament, which starts on Saturday 7 October, features 21 matches spread over four venues in 30 days and starts with the Preliminary Round which sees four sides – Sri Lanka , the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh – playing each other for right to progress to the next stage.

Two sides will go through to join the other six – Australia , South Africa , India , Pakistan , New Zealand and England – in the Second Round with the teams divided into two groups of four.

The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals with the final to follow at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Sunday 5 November. The seeding for the tournament is based on sides' standing in the LG ICC ODI Championship table on 1 April 2006.

The ICC Champions Trophy started in 1998 and has taken place every two years since that date. Previously known as the ICC Knock-out on the first two occasions it was played, in Bangladesh in 1998 and Kenya in 2000, the tournament's name was changed for the 2002 event in Sri Lanka .

The ICC Champions Trophy is one of the two “majors” of international cricket and comes to India for the first time this October and November.

The West Indies are the defending champions after lifting the trophy in a pulsating final against hosts England at The Oval in September 2004. The complete list of previous winners is:

1998 – South Africa
2000 – New Zealand
2002 – Sri Lanka & India (the trophy was shared when the final was washed out by rain)
2004 – West Indies

The ICC Champions Trophy 2006 is a showpiece for the world's best teams and the world's best players and this year it has added significance as it takes place just six months before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. So, this tournament is not just a chance for those teams to lift some prestigious silverware; it is also a chance to develop plans and tactics ahead of the next year's event that takes place in the Caribbean .

The ICC Champions Trophy 2006 is a massive event for the sides taking part but it is also hugely important for all the ICC's 97 Members. In addition to the revenue it generates for the 10 Full Members through participation, it also plays a vital role in supporting the development of the game throughout the world. To illustrate this, by the end of the 2006 tournament, the tournament will have generated US$65 million for the ICC's Associate and Affiliate Members