ISLAMABAD, Sep 9 (APP): International Cricket Council (ICC) will present the Test Championship mace to Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on September 21.
According to ICC, Chief Executive ICC David Richardson will make the presentation, which will be followed by a media conference.
Pakistan achieved number-one Test ranking for the first time since the current rankings system was introduced in 2003 after it played a two-all draw against England.
Pakistan’s cause was also helped by Sri Lanka, which defeated Australia by 3-0, while a wet ground in Port of Spain denied India the opportunity to defend the top spot as it won its four-Test series against the West Indies by 2-0.
Pakistan is currently sitting on 111 points, one ahead of India, while Australia and England are on 108 points each.
The top seven Test sides are separated by just 16 points.
ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 9 September 2016) includes: Pakistan (1st, 111 points), India (2nd, 110 points), Australia (3rd, 108 points), England (4th, 108 points), South Africa (5th, 96 points), Sri Lanka (6th, 95 points), New Zealand (7th, 95 points), West Indies (8th, 67 points), Bangladesh (9th, 57 points) and Zimbabwe (10th, 8 points).
It may be mentioned that the mace was produced by the then British Crown Jeweller, Asprey and Garrard, in 2001, which was commissioned to make a distinctive prize designed to stand out from other cricket trophies.
The designers produced a 90cm silver and gold-plated trophy based on a cricket stump as its shank, topped by an orb that represents the cricket world – both geographically and through the inclusion of the emblems of all 10 ICC Members that have played Test cricket.
The mace sits on a wooden base with a silver-plated plaque in front with room for engravings of the sides to hold it.
The mace was valued at œ30,000 in 2001 and automatically passes from one team to another as results confirm a change of leadership in the ICC Test Team Rankings table.
