Some pieces of sporting silverware establish themselves over time, gradually creeping into the consciousness as the years tick by.
Others, meanwhile, create such a stir with their striking design and bold ambition that they make an immediate impression and are widely-recognised by the time they’re handed to the winners of a competition for the first time.
The ICC Test World Championship mace is unarguably the latter, but the history of the Mace itself is almost as enduring as the timeline of a competition that took a generation to be transformed from an idea to reality.
The notion of a World Test Championship was first mooted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2009, in an attempt to add some context to a crowded schedule. The tournament was initially due to be held in 2013, in place of the ICC Champions Trophy.
For a variety of reasons, though, the competition eventually began in the summer of 2019, with the Ashes Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston becoming the first fixture in the competition’s history. It was an aptly prestigious way for it to begin, with cricket’s two oldest rivals providing the perfect juxtaposition between tradition – they first played against each in a Test match in 1877 – and modernity.
The centrepiece of the new tournament was a trophy that created something of a storm almost from the off. The original iteration of the mace was designed by Thomas Lyte’s Trevor Brown, a man responsible for the design of some global sports’ most iconic trophies, in 2000.
“One of the moments that inspired the design of the ICC Mace was seeing a cricketer grab a stump as a souvenir after a particularly close match,” says Brown. “As the stump was waived aloft it occurred to me that a mace might be a good format to base the trophy on – it could stand out against a typical cup design and be something quite different.”
Starting in 2001/02, the original mace was awarded by the ICC to the top ranked Test nation on 1 April each year, alongside a cash prize of $1m. It resided primarily in Australia, with the country holding the mace nine times in its first 15 years.
Now, as Australia once again prepare to do battle for one of global cricket’s most prestigious prizes against South Africa at Lord’s, Brown describes the thought process that went into designing the mace almost 25 years ago.
“There’s also the idea that a mace is a ceremonial object – and as the mace is presented at the World Test Championship Final, a touch of ceremony about the presentation would be a good thing too,” he says.
“It’s such a different sporting format and event so it really does need a visually different trophy. I saw the presentation as a moment of great pride for the winning captain, his squad and support team to enjoy – followed by moments of reflection on just how hard it is to win.”
“As for the design itself, it’s based around the global nature of Test cricket and the competing nations. The focal point of cricket is of course the ball. Whether being bowled, hit, fielded or caught, it’s obviously at the core of the game. In Test cricket, the ball takes on even more significance as it wears and changes character during the course of the match too. That’s why I thought the cricket ball should be at the very centre of the mace design.”
The WTC final was first won by New Zealand in 2021, with Kane Williamson’s side beating Virat Kohli’s India by eight wickets at a final held at Hampshire’s home ground in Southampton. Australia then lifted the mace in 2023 following a comfortable win over India in front of a packed house at the Oval in South London.
Now the final is being held at Lord’s for the first time, a fitting venue for a tournament that is now establishing its place in the sport’s at-times breathless schedule. The mace a symbol of the global game that cricket has become.
“Encircling the ball is the globe referencing the global reach of Test Cricket and you see glimpses of the silver gilt cricket ball through the oceans of the map,” says Brown.
“The countries of the world are supported on the longitude lines you see on a globe – this allows for an interesting interplay of light on the different surfaces, especially as the mace is moved and catches that light.
“The world is surrounded by a central belt carrying the insignia of all 12 competing Test nations, with space to add others in the future. A silver gilt laurel band spirals up the shaft of the mace – the shaft itself styled as a stump – a reference to the all important wicket. Laurel has been a traditional motif associated with winning so it seemed a fitting idea – it also adds texture and interest to the polished finish of the stump.”
It may be one of the most modern trophies in world sport, but the mace is a piece of silverware that reflects the incredible heritage of Test cricket’s 148-year history.
This is a sport with a priceless ability to regenerate and reinvent itself. Like the mace itself, there are plenty more fascinating stories just waiting to be told.
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