June 16, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 11, 1429

LAHORE, June 15: The official launch of the ICC Champions Trophy will take place at a local hotel on Wednesday.

The ceremony will start at 7pm, but prior to that, ICC acting chief executive officer David Richardson, PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi and Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik will hold a media conference at the same venue at 5pm.

Later, ICC president Rai Mali and PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf will speak at the launching ceremony.

Matches of the Champions Trophy will be staged in September in three cities –- Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Participating teams have been divided into two groups. Group ‘A’ comprises Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies while Group ‘B’ consists of South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England.

The semi-finals will be played in Karachi and Rawalpindi while Lahore will host the final.