ICC declares Champions Trophy a huge success

International Cricket Council President David Morgan termed the just-concluded Champions Trophy "a huge success" and said the event has proved to be a great advertisement for one-dayers.

"I'm delighted with the quality of the tournament and the level of cricket that has been played throughout this competition. It has been a huge success," Morgan said in a statement.

"The cricket was enthralling and the feedback on the event from the players and followers of the game has been overwhelmingly positive. I believe the cricketing world thoroughly enjoyed this re-branded competition as I did," he said.

Morgan said the event, which had been criticised as meaningless by several former cricketers, has proved that it deserves to be there on the ICC calendar.

"The level of organisation and the praise the event has received from the all the top cricketers speaks volumes of the success of the event. I think most experts of the game and the opinion-makers are now convinced the ICC Champions Trophy definitely has a place in the cricket calendar," he said.

"It also gives me immense pleasure to say the quality of cricket we have seen in the last 14 days proves that 50-over format can comfortably co-exist with the traditional five-day Test and the short 20-over formats," he added.

Morgan lauded winners Australia and runners-up New Zealand for their good performance in the tournament despite being without key players.

"I would like to congratulate Ricky Ponting's side for successfully defending the title. Congratulations are also due to New Zealand which played excellent cricket and despite missing top players due to injuries produced excellent performances to reach the final," he said.