S.Africans favourite to win Champions Trophy

Johannesburg, Sep.22 (ANI): Former cricket administrator and current player agent Arthur Turner has predicted that the Proteas are the favourites to win the ICC Champions Trophy irrespective of history and perceptions.

They are not only the No 1 ranked ODI team in the world, but there is daylight between them and the chasing pack.

The tournament promises to be exciting and competitive with the top eight teams in world cricket participating.

The one negative is that the West Indies have sent a second-string team because of the dispute between their Board and the players. This is unacceptable and the ICC should not have allowed them to participate with a sub-standard team in a prestigious ICC tournament. They should have been replaced by Bangladesh.

The ICC has made a big effort to energise an event that has failed to grab the imagination of the cricketing world.

They have increased the prize money to a whopping four million dollars. The winning team will receive blazers similar to what happens at The Masters at Augusta and a two million dollars winners cheque.

According to Turner, the main threat to the Proteas' success will once again be Australia, even if they are not the force of recent years.

Their success in the Natwest Series in England will have given them confidence and an opportunity to build their team for the tournament.

The return of Brett Lee and the emergence of Cameron White have certainly made a big difference to them as a team.

India must also be one of the favourites as they are a well organised and experienced unit. They won the World Cup in England in 1981 and the World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007 proving that they have the ability to win away from home. (ANI)