England captain Andrew Strauss on Wednesday received the prestigious Reliance ICC Test Championship mace for leading the team that finished on top of the Reliance ICC Test Championship table on the annual cut-off date of 1 April.
Clive Lloyd, chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee and former West Indies captain, presented the mace to Strauss who also collected a cheque of US$175,000 from Rod Riley, Executive Senior Vice President, Reliance Communications, ADAG, in a ceremony that was staged at Coronation Garden at Lord's and attended by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chief Executive David Collier.
At the presentation, Strauss said: "We are proud to be presented with the Reliance ICC Test Championship mace again in recognition of retaining our position as the number-one ranked Test side in the world.
"However, everyone involved in the current England set up remains fully motivated and determined to continue working hard as there is still a great deal more we want to achieve over the coming months and years."
Mr Lloyd, who led West Indies to wins in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979, and ended his illustrious 19-year career from 1966-1985 with 110 Tests and 87 ODIs, said: "The mace is a symbol of excellence and recognition of a side's outstanding achievement in the toughest and most traditional format of the game.
"England has all the reasons to be proud of its feat as it is only the third team after Australia and India to hold the mace when the annual prize money is handed out.
"Test cricket remains the pinnacle form of the game and to further recognise the achievements of the leading teams, an increased total of US $3.8m in prize money will be shared among the top four sides in the next three years, including a distribution of US$1.2million at the 1 April 2013 cut-off date with number-one receiving US$450,000.
"We are also looking forward to the road to the inaugural World Test Championship starting in 2013, from which time every Test match will count towards determining who takes part in the finals event in 2017," said Mr Lloyd.
Sanjay Behl, Group Head - Branding and Marketing, Reliance Communications, ADAG, said: "Reliance congratulates the England cricket team on retaining its number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC Test Championship table.
"The Reliance ICC Test Championship mace symbolises England's domination and supremacy as the best side in the Test arena.
"We at Reliance wish the England team the very best for the games ahead. We also look forward to the other Test playing nations delivering their best so that they too scale up the Reliance ICC Test Championship, thus resulting in more competitive and entertaining Test matches," said Mr Behl.
