Australian captain Steve Smith, on Monday, a day before the start of Test series against Sri Lanka received the ICC Test championship mace from the ICC chief, David Richardson here in Kandy. Along with that he also received US$1million as prize money by the virtue of Australian team finishing topping the ICC rankings during the stipulated time i.e. April 1.
The Australian team is currently placed at first rank in the points table and this series will have a great impact on their position in the upcoming period.
While presenting the mace to the winning captain Steve Smith, the ICC chief David Richardson said few words during his speech
“The mace is a symbol of excellence and recognition of a side’s outstanding achievement in the toughest format of the sport. Australia’s winning performances have been exceptional and they thoroughly deserve to be awarded the mace”
“These are exciting times for Test cricket as the top four ranked countries are involved in high profile series across three different continents showcasing the very best this format of the sport has to offer. I am sure the incentive of achieving the number-one ranking will further motivate them, bringing out the best in the players,” adds ICC chief.
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Smith seemed to be quite happy and pleased with his team’s performance during the preceding year and said “It is a huge honour to be the number-one ranked Test side in the world and the credit should go to all the work the players and support staff has put in over the last 12 months.
“I am really proud of our young team and what we have accomplished so far but there is still more we would like to achieve. We now need to put in consistent performances, both at home and away, to continue to be successful and keep the number-one ranking.
“Winning away from home has often been a challenge for us, especially in sub-continental conditions, but this is something we are looking to change in this upcoming series against Sri Lanka,” Smith said in his concluding comments.
During the cut-off period, the Australian team won 10 of the 12 Test matches they played. All the matches were played under the captaincy of Steven Smith.
The Australian team is here in Sri Lanka and will kick off their international assignment from tomorrow. Both the team are well prepared for the contest with Australian team being the favourites amongst the two despite not having a good past record in the subcontinent conditions.