Pakistan and India will face each other at Edgbaston later in the year as the fixtures for this years ICC champions trohpy were announced.

England learned they will once again face customary big-tournament rivals Zimbabwe in the opening match of this summer's ICC Champions Trophy.

The mini-World Cup - which will feature each of the 10 Test-playing nations, as well as Kenya and the winners of next month's ICC Six Nations Challenge - will provide the climax of the English summer schedule and will begin at Edgbaston on September 10 when the hosts take on Zimbabwe.

The 2004 Champions Trophy is scheduled to last two weeks and will take place at three venues - Edgbaston, Hampshire's Rose Bowl and The Oval. Each ground will host five matches.

Other notable fixtures, announced by the ICC today, are set to include England's second group match against Sri Lanka at The Rose Bowl on September 17 and India v Pakistan at Edgbaston two days later.

The final will be played at The Oval on Saturday September 25 when the organisers will be hoping the English autumn weather does not create the problems delivered by the elements in Colombo two years ago when monsoons twice wiped out the fixture and forced a no-result.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed is instead predicting an intriguing tournament as the rest of the Cricket world bids to knock Australia off their World Cup-winning perch.

"Since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 last year, we have seen a number of teams undergo a radical transformation," said Speed.

"The England and Pakistan teams are barely recognisable from the sides that crashed out in the first round, and this tournament will be the opportunity for the cricketing world to see just how far these teams have now come.

The tournament format splits the 12 teams into four groups of three for a round-robin group stage, with the winner of each group moving through to the semi-finals.

There are reserve days for all matches, precluding the need for Duckworth/Lewis re-calculations on the first scheduled day.

Tickets for the tournament go on sale on April 1.