ICC Champion Trophy 2017 venues

A brief account of the three venues that will host the latest edition of the Champions Trophy.

The Oval holds the most historic significance among the three ICC Champions Trophy 2017 venues.

The venue is a dot in the map but it evokes memories attached to it and lets one form an opinion from its history. That opinion is an element in the spirited discussion in the build up to any match, more so for a big event, like the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Here’s a brief account of the three Champions Trophy venues that will host the latest edition of the mini-World Cup.

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 schedule with match timings and squad details

The Oval, London

Capacity: 24,500

This ground holds the most historic significance among the three. It has served as an abode for prisoners in transit during the second world war, hosted the first-ever Test on English soil, and given birth to the legend of the Ashes — it was after England meekly lost to Australia here that The Sporting Times published its mock obituary of the death of English cricket. Its history is not only confined to cricket, for it has hosted other traditional sporting events as well. For instance, the FA Cup finals in football. Look it up, and you'll know it has held more memorable cricket matches than known to one.

Birmingham is where South Africa and Australia played the tied semifinal in the 1999 World Cup.

 

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Capacity: 25,000

This is where Brian Lara scored his world record score of unbeaten 501 versus Durham in 1994, where South Africa and Australia played the tied semifinal in the 1999 World Cup, and where England won the second Ashes Test by a mere two runs in 2005. That said, it has hosted only four Tests in its first 27 years. From many a credible reportage, the ground's been held widely in the expert and fan circles, as the best after the Lord's.

Cardiff been an international cricket venue since 1999, but it was only in 2006 that it hosted its first England match.

 

Cardiff Wales Stadium (Sophia Gardens), Cardiff

Capacity: 15,643

It's been an international cricket venue since 1999, but it was only in 2006 that it hosted its first England match. It became the World's 100th Test match venue when it staged the first Ashes Test in 2009, thus also becoming the venue for the first Ashes Test in Wales. Home for the Glamorgan county cricket club, its cricketer Mike Powell brought sentiment to the ground's history when he asked for his surgically removed rib - because of an injury - to be buried there.