Facts and Figures about the ICC Champions Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy was made by Asprey.

It took 60 hours to manufacture and is made of sterling silver with silver gilt cricket ball at the top.

The ICC Champions Trophy weighs 3.1kgs.

The trophy is 46cm high, while at the base its circumference is 47cm and at the top its circumference is 48cm

Sangakkara gears up for bumper period

Kumar Sangakkara is confident Sri Lanka can carry their impressive Test form into the busy upcoming period of limited-overs cricket.

Sangakkara's side has been outstanding in gaining Test series victories over Pakistan and New Zealand, while they also defeated the former in a one-day series.

Sri Lanka now face the Kiwis and India in a tri-nations ODI series in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy later this month, and Sangakkara is delighted with the form of his players.

"The batting of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene was extraordinary in the Tests and everyone else played their part," he said.

"Everyone chipped and it just goes to show that if everyone is willing to fight, show character and put in the hard work as a team, results will follow.

"I'm sure with those qualities in the side we can walk away with a win.

"Every game we go into we are looking to win and to give it our best," he said on the eve of the first of two Twenty20 Internationals against the Black caps. "We've got to think long and hard about our combination for tomorrow's game.

"One good thing over the last two years with coach Chandika Hathurusinghe doing some great work with the A side is that we have a lot of young players coming through with top quality.

"So the talent is there and if we do our homework right, be confident, prepare as best as we can and go out there looking to win, and if our attitude is positive, we will do well."

Former skipper Jayawardene, who relinquished the captaincy so that Sangakkara could build a side for the 2011 World Cup, is happy with the progress of the team.

"Sangakkara is a very good leader and the team is heading in the right direction," Jayawardene said.

"As long as we keep motivating ourselves to be better cricketers we can keep challenging ourselves to be a better team in all forms of the game."

Sri Lanka have included uncapped 23-year-old all-rounder Gihan Rupasinghe in their squad along with fast bowler Isuru Udana, who featured in the World Twenty20 in England, and Mahela Udawatte.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews' recovery from a hamstring injury gives Sri Lanka further options.

Keen contest expected at One Day tri-series cricket in Sri Lanka

Former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming has said that the upcoming One Day tri-series in Sri Lanka would see a tough competition.

The series in Sri Lanka, which also involves New Zealand and India, will be held from September 8-14.

The hosts are upbeat after clinching a recent two match test series over Kiwis 2-0.

"Well I think Sri Lanka is a decent side...this series is going to be great...India is of course a good one day side, New Zealand have been in one day format. So, Kiwis are the underdogs..." Fleming told reporters here on Monday.

India earlier this month declared the squad for the Sri Lanka tri-series followed by the Champions Trophy, recalling Rahul Dravid and leaving out explosive batsman Virender Sehwag due to his shoulder surgery.

The former captain, Dravid's last one-day international appearance came in October 2007 before selectors opted for a more youthful side with an eye on the 2011 World Cup.

Indian selectors hope Dravid will bolster the batting in the Champions Trophy on pacy South African pitches. A young Indian batting unit struggled against short-pitched bowling at the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.

Sachin Tendulkar returned to the frame after opting out of the one-day series in the West Indies, which the tourists won 2-1 last month.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Promo

Ravi Shastri belives jayasuriya should be regarded as de best ODI cricketer

Former India captain Ravi Shastri has revealed which players he believes are the greatest ODI stars of all time.

"If I was to choose my best ODI batsman then it would be Sachin Tendulkar and if I was asked to name my best ODI bowler then it would be Wasim Akram," said Shastri in an interview.

"But looking at all-round cricketers and their impact on the game then I am tied over Viv Richards and Sanath Jayasuriya."

"The best way to sum up the difference between Viv and the rest through his career was that he was the one player who had the ability to spoil a good game of cricket. Even when I was in the opposition and on the receiving end of one of his performances it was still possible to marvel at his ability.

"That ability was primarily as a batsman, of course, and with his body language and his aggression, when everything was in sync' then he was impossible to bowl at. But what shouldn't be ignored is his fielding which also turned matches, most notably his run-outs that helped beat Australia in the 1975 World Cup final and with the ball he invariably produced solid spells with crucial wickets through his effective off-spin. He was the match-winning package in every sense.

"As for Sanath Jayasuriya, he ripped up and re-wrote the one-day rule book through his amazing hitting at the top of the order and he's still doing it today, past the age of 40.

"On top of that, he's always been a brilliant fielder and a very under-rated bowler. Sanath is also, quite simply, a match-winner in every sense and in terms of his performances against India for example, when he's fired then invariably Sri Lanka has won.

"You can talk about the abilities of Muralidaran, Vaas, Sangakkara, Jayawardena and even Aravinda de Silva going back a few years but when Sanath is on song he has set up the match for the rest of them.

"He has redefined batting at the top of the order. When someone starts playing the way he did – and still does – back in the mid-1990s then cricket sense tells you that person will be found out at some stage. But here we are in 2009 and he's still at it, smashing opening attacks everywhere, just as he did over a decade ago. He might not be in his prime any more, that period in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but he can still hammer any attack. I saw his record century in Singapore against a quality Pakistan attack a few years ago and that was a privilege that still sticks in the mind.