Tony Becca

THE FIFTH ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament gets under way in Jaipur, India, on Sunday, with India taking on England in a contest in which for the first time in a long time, probably for the first time ever, all the contestants are in with a chance, probably an equal chance, of coming out as champions.

Although Australia, number one in the ICC one-day rankings and two-time defending champions of the World Cup, are the favourites, each of the eight teams - Australia, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan and New Zealand, plus the West Indies and Sri Lanka, who face each other in the final match of the qualifying section of the tournament tomorrow in Mumbai - have a chance of lifting the title, and it has nothing to do with the talk about the unpredictability of the game, and especially so the one-day version of the game, or that the ball is round.

It has to do with many other things, and important things at that.

One is that the length of the game - 50 overs compared to five days - makes it easier for the weak to topple the strong; two is that among the top eight teams, the gap is not as wide as it was, say, 10 years ago; and with batting more difficult under artificial floodlights than it is under natural light, and definitely so against good bowling, with all the matches during the tournament scheduled as day and night affairs, even though the dew at night could make life a bit difficult for the bowlers; three is that the toss could play a decisive part in the outcome of the matches.

There is also a fourth reason why any number can play.

Big thing

While to some teams, like the West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, the ICC Champions Trophy may be a big thing, to others, like Australia, it not be may be, and while those who believe it is may put everything in an effort to win it, the others, like Australia, may not - for the simple reason that they may be looking towards and preparing for the World Cup which, in their opinion, is the big thing and which is just a few months away.

Even though, with only the top eight teams participating in this one, with 15 matches scheduled for just over two weeks, the Champions Trophy, this time around should be a tough and testing tournament from start to finish, and to some a better contest than the World Cup, which will cater to eight more teams, including the likes, not only of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but also of Kenya, Canada, Scotland, Bermuda, Netherlands and Ireland, it is still considered by some an orphaned cousin of the World Cup - at worse a waste of time, at best a warm-up for the World Cup.

With two groups of four teams each, with one group comprising Australia, England, India and either the West Indies or Sri Lanka, with the other comprising South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan and either the West Indies or Sri Lanka, unlike the Word Cup, every match in each group will be tough and more than likely exciting as the teams bid for the two places in the semi-finals.

Difficult question

Who will win the Champions Trophy? That is a difficult question to answer. Australia, with the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark and Brad Hogg are favourites - no doubt about that.

Like South Africa, India, England, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, however, the West Indies, the defending champions, are in it. As disappointing as it can be sometimes, a batting line-up to come from the likes of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Runako Morton, Wavell Hinds and Dwayne Smith, plus wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh, can be awesome and can win it for them - once they go in with at least three of their four pace bowlers - Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor.