The fuss about the players' contracts has overshadowed the build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy, which begins in Sri Lanka on Thursday. But it is nonetheless an important tournament with the World Cup looming in less than six months' time in South Africa. In a month that introduced the words "ambush marketing" to cricket, administrators have huffed and puffed, the players have dug their heels in, and the whole thing nearly came tumbling down. An uneasy peace has been declared, but the first Coca-Cola or Virgin Atlantic ad - the official sponsors are Pepsi, LG Electronics, Hero Honda and South African Airways - will cause a sharp intake of breath all round.

The form horses going into the tournament are India, fresh from their stunning victory in the NatWest Series in the English midsummer. But "fresh" probably isn't quite the right word for a team which, like England, has been on the go almost all year. The Indians' state of mind hasn't been helped by the will-they-won't-they discussions of the last month. And after two Test series and numerous one-dayers, they must be sick of the sight of England - who, with the inevitability of Poland in soccer's World Cup, are in the same group again here.

England, apart from the fatigue factor, also have injuries to contend with. No fewer than five players (Paul Collingwood, Andy Flintoff, Darren Gough, Michael Vaughan and Craig White) have withdrawn from the original side. Of the replacements, the performances of new boys Rikki Clarke - the 2002 Young Cricketer of the Year - and beefy Ian Blackwell will be of particular interest. Don't worry about a certain déjà vu feeling when you see Clarke bowl - he's a carbon copy of Martin Bicknell.

New Zealand are the defending champions, but they have had personnel problems of their own. The Man of the Match in the final last time, Chris Cairns, is missing because of injury, while Craig McMillan, Matt Horne and Brooke Walker pulled out citing security fears. They may have a tearaway fast bowler, in Shane Bond, and the ultimate one-day specialist in Paul Hitchcock (at 26, he's only ever played one first-class match in his life), but a repeat victory looks beyond the holders this time.

Pakistan have been hamstrung by the problems at home which have seen them playing in Sharjah and Morocco more often than in Karachi. But with Wasim Akram gearing up for a last hurrah at the World Cup, and batsmen like Shahid Afridi and Inzamam-ul-Haq in form, they can't be counted out. The same goes for Sri Lanka, the proud hosts, despite their subdued performances in England. Murali is fit, Aravinda de Silva is back. But on the face of it the fast bowling - no Nuwan Zoysa, no Pramodya Wickremasinghe (and no Eric Upashantha either, much to the chagrin of his English fan club) - is rather green.

South Africa sprung a surprise by omitting Gary Kirsten, their leading one-day runscorer, after a lean trot. He's recuperating with the A team. Dale Benkenstein replaces him in a familiar-looking squad. The main men are the same - Donald, Kallis, Klusener, Pollock, Rhodes. But time marches on - Donald is 36 in October - and there is a suspicion that this team is growing old together.

The same might be said of Zimbabwe. Heath Streak (who returns as captain), Alistair Campbell and the Flower brothers have been almost ever-present since Zimbabwe achieved Test status back in 1991. There's always the chance that the Zims will cause an upset - England and India will be on their guard - but how much longer can this plucky bunch carry on for their ravaged country?

This is an important time for West Indies, with the doom-sayers predicting the end of meaningful cricket in the Caribbean. It's up to Carl Hooper to stop the hoop-la and forge a decent team again. You can't write off any team that has Brian Lara in it, but the bowling attack could still do with a dose of the Curtly'n'Courtneys. Or even Joel Garner or Wes Hall. Vasbert Drakes, for all his energetic county-hopping, doesn't quite seem to fit the bill.

Bangladesh, Holland and Kenya are basically in there for experience. Bangladesh's elevation to Test status looks more premature with each mismatch, and their one-day form isn't much better. Kenya have the Zimbabwean problem of a small player-base - and the Dutch have almost no player-base at all. But among their Van Bunges and Kloppenburgs are a couple of familiar names to English eyes - Roland Lefebvre, their captain, who played with distinction for Somerset and Glamorgan, and Bas Zuiderent, who has had some success with Sussex.

And so the pre-tournament favourites aren't a great surprise ... Australia. The new-look Aussies warmed up with two wins apiece over Pakistan and Kenya in Nairobi recently. The final of that tournament, against Pakistan, was rained off - but Australia were likely winners, even if Ricky Ponting, their new captain, wasn't overwhelmed by his bowlers' efforts. They will take some stopping in Sri Lanka.

The format

The ten Test-playing nations, plus Holland and Kenya, have been split into four groups of three. Each team will therefore play at least two games. The top team in each group will progress to the semi-finals, and the winners of those will contest the final at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium on September 29. All the matches are being played either at the Premadasa, where the floodlights will serve up day/night matches each time, or the Sinhalese Sports Club.

The groups are: 1 - Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand. 2 - England, India, Zimbabwe. 3 - Kenya, South Africa, West Indies. 4 - Holland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

The prizemoney fund this time is $1.15 million.

A spot of history

The event is staged to raise funds for the ICC development programme, which is a global initiative to introduce cricket and raise standards of the game in developing countries around the world. The 2000 tournament returned a profit of $US13million, which sustained the programme for two years.

The first ICC knockout tournament was held in Bangladesh in 1998, and was won by South Africa. Two years later it was staged in Kenya, when New Zealand defeated India in the final to claim their first major one-day title.

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