The 2017 Champions Trophy sees eight teams arrive on British shores at very different stages in their white-ball development, writes MediaWales journalist Dominic Booth.
Staged in Cardiff, Birmingham and London in early June, the conditions are likely to suit England, with bookies making the host nation favourites to land the trophy. But Eoin Morgan's burgeoning side will face stiff competition at every turn.
For India, the defending champions from 2013 – and 2015 World Cup winners Australia – the competition represents the chance to continue that winning habit. Experience runs throughout both squads, with Steve Smith and David Warner, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh likely to claim the limelight again, as they so often have in recent tournaments.
Champions Trophy organisers will have been relieved to see India's plane touch down at Heathrow airport in May. There was a stage when fears had grown over the team's participation in the tournament, with the BCCI at loggerheads with the ICC over revenue and governance issues. When India missed the squad submission deadline those fears grew, but have now been allayed after the BCCI's green light finally arrived.
On the pitch, Kohli's outfit will be among the challengers to Morgan's dream for England to land a first 50-over international tournament win in their history.
With one of the tournament's most fearsome batting lineups, England are now a different animal to the side that limped to the 2013 final. Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler are among the biggest hitters in the game, and Ben Stokes has taken the IPL by storm in his debut year. The only question mark is over England's bowling, with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali likely to be targeted by opponents.
England's earliest challenge will surely come from New Zealand at in Cardiff on June 6. The Kiwis ought not to be underestimated. They're usually a safe bet for the semi-finals in whichever tournament they contest, led by one of the world's leading batsmen in Kane Williamson. Trent Boult and Tim Southee spearhead a potent Kiwi bowling attack.
The relatively junior squads of Pakistan and Sri Lanka may struggle. Both are in the midst of a lengthy rebuilding process; a process that has seen tournament big-hitters West Indies fail to qualify, a process in which tournament underdogs Bangladesh perennially seem to be stuck. The absence of iconic figures such as Younus Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kumar Sangakkara is a loss to the tournament, no doubt.
Which leaves South Africa, drawn alongside India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the intriguing Group B. You never know quite what to expect from the Proteas at big tournaments, but led by AB De Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, this could finally be their year.
Group A will surely unravel as a three-way tug-of-war between England, Australia and New Zealand for two vacant spots in the last four. It isn't the right tournament for Bangladesh to make their mark on the world stage and England's vast improvement in the 50-over game ought to guarantee them a semi-final place, probably alongside Australia.
But as so often in tournament cricket, anything can happen and that New Zealand clash in Cardiff will be all important.
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