Thomas Lyte are proud to be the makers of the 2021 ICC World Test Championship Mace, for the very first Test Championship Final in more than 140 years history of test cricket. This Test Championship Final is one of the most anticipated events in the international cricket calendar.
As goldsmiths and silversmiths and elite sports trophy makers, we were commissioned by the International Cricket Council to handcraft the gold-plated silver trophy in time for the WTC Final between India and New Zealand in Southampton on 18th June 2021.
“We are honoured to have crafted many of the world’s most iconic sporting trophies, and the illustrious World Test Championship Mace is unlike any other we have made and this makes it all the more special,” said Kevin Baker, CEO and Founder of the luxury English trophy manufacturer Thomas Lyte.
“We are a Royal Warrant Holder as goldsmiths and silversmiths to Her Majesty the Queen, so we often work with ceremonial objects, but to combine this tradition with that of a sporting trophy has been a fantastic challenge for our designers and makers”
Test cricket is the most extreme and taxing of all forms of this sport and is considered the game’s highest standard, with each four-innings match taking up to 5 days to complete. To be the best Test side in the world, over the course of a year takes an immense team effort. This introduction of a Test Final, will be a great spectacle, and will make the ICC Mace even more satisfying to win.
Designing and making the ICC Mace
The original ICC World Test Championship Mace was designed in 2000 by world renowned Thomas Lyte trophy designer, Trevor Brown. Having overseen the design of the English Premier League trophy, The ICC Cricket World Cup and The Guinness Six Nations Trophy on his illustrious CV, Trevor is a highly-valued member of Thomas Lyte’s trophy design team.
The new bespoke trophy was completely handcrafted in Thomas Lyte’s London-based fine silver workshops. The handle of the mace resembles a cricket stump with a laurel leaf ribbon spiralling up the shaft. The laurel leaf is a traditional symbol for celebrating success and achievement. The ribbon was 3D printed from a digital 3D design, cast and gold-plated and is a great example of the leading edge technology employed at Thomas Lyte.
The head of the Mace is a gold-plated cricket ball surrounded by a global map which effortlessly communicates the international reach of cricket and the World Test Championship. The countries of the world are supported on small silver which produce a multitude of reflections against the golden cricket ball. Hot forging was used to bend these rods at over 700 degrees Celsius before they were soldered together to create the shape of a globe. The world is surrounded by a central belt of gold engraved with the insignia of all twelve competing test nations.
