LAHORE – International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Dave Richardson will formally present the iconic Test mace to Pakistani Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq on September 21 for achieving first position in the ICC Test ranking chart.
For this purpose, a special ceremony will be held at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, where former cricketers, Pakistani Test squad and PCB officials will be invited.
The mace automatically passes from one team to another as results confirm a change of leadership in the ICC test ranking. It was first introduced in 2001.
British crown jewller Asprey & Garrard originally designed the mace. It has a wooden base with silver and gold plated plaque. It’s net worth stood at £30,000 in 2001.
Misbah had led his side to a 2-2 stalemate against England in August this year, claiming top ICC slot for Pakistan.
Pakistan had enough points to edge ahead of India, who slipped down to number 2 after their match against West Indies had to be called off due to wet outfield. They were also helped by Sri Lanka who smashed the Australians 3-0 at home.
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.
After the historical achievement, Misbah said that bigger challenges await the team and now they have to make all efforts to consolidate their position at the top of the table.
“It is a huge achievement to be at top of the world. It is just like winning a World Cup for your team, therefore everyone in the team wanted to touch the summit no matter whether it was for a day or a week or a month. The number one tag was in the minds of all the players and it motivated us a lot,” Misbah wrote on Cricket Australia’s (CA) website.
“The challenge now is to maintain our ranking and for that we will have to do well in the upcoming series against West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. The tours to New Zealand and Australia will be difficult,” he added.
The 42-year old was in impressive form in the series and scored a valiant century at Lords to set the tone for the rest of the series. His team then came back from behind to win the final Test at the oval and thus squared the series 2-2.
