thats wrong it starts on 2 stepember

Champions Trophy 2008
Shoaib included in preliminary squad
Cricinfo staff
July 14, 2008

Preliminary squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Misbah-ul Haq (vice-captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Bazid Khan, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Arafat, Mansoor Amjad, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Mohammad Ali, Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Khan, Abdur Rauf, Wahab Riaz, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Aamer, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal

Shoaib Akhtar has been included in Pakistan's preliminary 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy in September after the Lahore High Court temporarily suspended an 18-month ban imposed on him by the board. The board will also conduct dope tests on all the players on July 19 and 20, and those testing positive will be ineligible for selection.
The list has been the subject of considerable delay, after disagreements between the board and selection committee over a number of players. Shoaib's eligibility and Mohammad Asif's latest drugs saga further pushed back the announcement by a day.
Asif, understandably, is out as is Mohammad Yousuf, who has opted to pull out of the squad as the tournament will be played during the month of Ramadan. Yousuf had made the request some time ago, though last year and the year before, he played for Pakistan during Ramadan. In his place comes Mohammad Hafeez.
The selectors have also chosen five uncapped players in the squad: Mohammad Aamer and Ahmed Shehzad, both of whom are 16, as well as Azhar Ali, Mohammad Ali and Anwar Ali. Aamer's inclusion comes just days after former captain Wasim Akram had called for his selection during an interview with Cricinfo. Akram had earmarked Aamer as a future talent during a fast bowlers' camp in May 2007. Shehzad, Aamer's under-19 team-mate in the Pakistan team, has impressed as a batsman since making his debut last season, scoring 360 runs at 51.42 from eight domestic limited over matches.
Azhar, the Lahore batsman, has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the domestic circuit - he has made 1305 runs at 50.19 in first-class cricket, and 903 runs at 47.52 in List A matches. Mohammad Ali, the 18-year-old Sialkot seamer, has taken 41 wickets at 25.46 in his first year at the first-class level last season. Anwar Ali led Pakistan to their last under-19 World Cup win in 2006 and has hovered close to Pakistan selection since.
© Cricinfo

Champions Trophy 2008
Champions Trophy decision later this week
Cricinfo staff
July 20, 2008

	Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, at the press conference in Dubai © AFP

Pakistan's chances of hosting the Champions Trophy in September have been pegged at "50-50" by an official who attended the ICC's security briefing in Dubai on Sunday. The meeting was attended by board officials of the eight participating countries, broadcast executives, and players' association representatives.
The ICC board will now take a final decision over the next 72 hours after its members discuss the issue over the phone, the official said. The ICC board, while taking a final decision, will also consider a report on Sunday's security briefing.
"The briefing was detailed and comprehensive and it looks 50-50 at the moment for Pakistan," the official told Cricinfo. "The players of four countries, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, have expressed some reservations over the security climate in Pakistan, and I would expect their boards to back them."
Asked whether Sunday's meeting discussed alternate venues for the tournament, the official said, "That topic was not touched upon at all in this meeting. That is for the ICC board to discuss." South Africa has been projected as the possible alternate host, in case the ICC board decides against Pakistan, after Sri Lanka, the original stand-by venue, was found to have significant security concerns of its own.
"Until or unless the Board decides otherwise, the tournament will proceed in Pakistan," the ICC said in an official statement. "While there was recognition the PCB had gone to great lengths to provide a high level of security during the Asia Cup and would do so again during the ICC Champions Trophy, concerns were expressed about the potential for threats beyond the PCB's control."
ICC discussed the issue at its annual conference in Dubai earlier this month, and it was decided that it would take a decision after it studied a security report from its consultants on the arrangements in place for the Asia Cup. Security experts, led by the Australian Reg Dickason, toured Pakistan recently, visiting venues in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, reiterated that the tournament should not be shifted out. "Pakistan's case is strong and we see no point in moving or not holding the Champions Trophy in our country after full assurances on security," he told AFP.
Meanwhile, shortly before leaving to attend the briefing in Dubai, Heath Mills, the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association executive manager, said there could be pullouts even if the ICC declared Pakistan as a safe venue.
© Cricinfo

Champions Trophy 2008
New Zealand might not be at full strength
Cricinfo staff
July 20, 2008

	Jacob Oram is unsure about visiting Pakistan © Getty Images

A final decision on Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy in September is expected at an ICC meeting in Dubai later today, but there are already reports suggesting a full-strength New Zealand team is unlikely for the tournament.
The meeting will involve representatives from member boards and the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) besides a team of security experts. Those from New Zealand include the team manager Lindsay Crocker and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association executive manager Heath Mills, who told the Herald on Sunday that there could be high-profile withdrawals among the New Zealand squad.
Speaking before leaving for Dubai, Mills said there could be pullouts even if the ICC declared Pakistan as a safe venue. Mills said several players had expressed their concerns to him, and that the reason no-one has come out and said "no" to the tour "is because nobody has yet asked them that question directly".
New Zealand are slated to play three ODIs in Pakistan before the biennial tournament, which now features the top eight ODI sides. New Zealand had cancelled their tour to the country in 2002 after a bomb went off outside their hotel, but returned the next year.
Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, had earlier said he would feel safe to tour if the level of security was the same as when his side toured in 2003. "I was there when the bomb went off outside our hotel in [2002] and I went back a year later on tour and the security they put forward that time was immense and overwhelming," Vettori said. Jacob Oram had expressed concerns over the visit, and said he would sit with his family and make a decision.
New Zealand Cricket has commissioned their own security expert along with Cricket Australia and the ECB. Security experts, led by the Australian Reg Dickason, had visited Pakistan in late June, and had said security in the country needed "fine tuning" . Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup without incident recently, but fears emerged following attacks in Islamabad, the capital, and in the port city of Karachi the last week. In a statement before the meeting, the ICC said: "The ICC will not indulge in speculation and, at this stage, the tournament will proceed in Pakistan, as scheduled."
The Champions Trophy will be held in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, between September 11 and 28. Shafqat Naghmi, the board's chief operating officer, told Cricinfo on Saturday that the board was confident of hosting the tournament after successfully conducting the Asia Cup.
© Cricinfo

September 2008
Thu 11	Group A - Pakistan v West Indies Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

no it starts from Sept.,11

first of all its not yet decided if its going to be in Pakistan....

i think it will be in pakistan...cuz bcci is backing them ..

Champions Trophy 2008
Pakistan confirmed as hosts
Cricinfo staff
July 24, 2008

	Nasim Ashraf: "Pakistan is a safe country to play cricket and the security firm of the ICC gave us "A" grade in the arrangements made during the Asia Cup" © AFP

The ICC board has decided to go ahead with staging the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, as originally planned, ending months of speculation over the venue in light of security concerns. Cricinfo has learnt that a majority of the governing body's executive board, which conducted a teleconference on Thursday to decide on the issue, felt any shift would "set a precedent" and be "a tremendous blow to the region, especially ahead of the 2011 World Cup", to be jointly hosted by the four Asian boards.
However, while seven of the ICC board's ten Full Members, spearheaded by India, expressed their overwhelming support for Pakistan, it is believed that at least three - England, Australia and New Zealand - have informed the governing body that their players "don't want to" play in Pakistan due to the prevailing security climate there".
The ICC's chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, later told reporters in Colombo that no player opting to pull out would be penalised, nor would their respective boards.
The teleconference lasted a little over two hours after which the ICC said in a press release that "the board considered various security reports and discussed at length the concerns of some members and stakeholders as well as the perceptions of Pakistan that may exist in some quarters".
The news was, predictably, greeted with great relief in Pakistan. "The Champions Trophy will stay in Pakistan and we thank all member countries for their kind support," Naseem Ashraf, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told reporters in Lahore after the ICC meeting. "Let me assure to you that it was a correct decision by the ICC keeping in mind that there should be unity in cricket. We are committed to providing the kind of security which we have promised to the ICC."
Security will still be the ICC's main concern and, with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) strongly advocating a shift of venue, to be shifted, the ICC board - which was "deeply worried that a players' pullout would devalue the event"- will set up a task force that will assess and monitor the security situation in the three Pakistani venues - Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
Apart from Ashraf, the task force comprises David Morgan, the ICC president, Sharad Pawar, the ICC vice-president, Lorgat and IS Bindra, the ICC's principal advisor; it also includes representatives of ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), the official broadcaster, the ICC's independent security advisors and FICA.
To start with, this independent committee has 14 days to prepare an assessment and persuade the players otherwise. The terms of reference include ensuring the effective implementation of the recommendations of the ICC's independent security advisors, and liaising with various stakeholders, including embassies within Pakistan and other governments, to address any related concerns.
Besides the fear of setting a precedent ahead of the 2011 World Cup, the other key factor in Pakistan retaining the tournament was the absence of any specific recommendation from the ICC's security consultants on hosting the event in Pakistan.
Then again, "equal concerns" were expressed by some board members during the teleconference on Thursday about the security climate in Sri Lanka, the official alternate venue. Many of the ICC board members also felt that if they moved the tournament, their own national boards could be the ones affected next on the issue of security.
However, the ICC board is believed to be aware that work still needs to be done on the security front and has gone ahead based on the ICC security consultants' report and assurances from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that "levels of security seen during the Asia Cup will be delivered". The ICC board was made aware that this could mean that "players will be subjected to effective hotel arrest, and not allowed out at all".
In fact, Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, is understood to have informed the board in "very clear terms" that he had tried to persuade his players to play in Pakistan and was told in return that they "won't go". Even South Africa, which backed Pakistan during the teleconference, admitted they were still trying to persuade their players to play in Pakistan.
"This is not something I treat lightly but we can manage it," Lorgat said. "We will use this task team to ensure that we properly communicated with players who have concerns. We are making sure FICA is a part of the process to understand the situation. We have to separate perception from reality. We will do our utmost to assure them that we would not go into an event where safety or security is going to be compromised."
© Cricinfo

ohh yes now it is and some teams are protesting