Australia regain ICC Test Mace

Australia has regained the prestigious ICC Test Mace and has also won a cash award of 1 million US dollars after winning the Christchurch Test by seven wickets, which has given it a two-nil series win against New Zealand.

The result means Australia has finished two points ahead of India on 112 points in the final series before the 1 April cut-off date.

Steve Smith will receive the Mace and the cash award on behalf of his team in a ceremony to be held at a later date.

This is the eighth time Australia has finished as the number-one ranked Test side at the annual cut-off date since the inception of the current rankings system in 2003.

It had earlier topped the table each year from 2003 to 2009, before India claimed number-one spots in 2010 and 2011.

England ended as the number-one ranked side in 2012 before South Africa completed a hat-trick by retaining the top spot from 2013 to 2015.

India, by virtue of finishing second, will collect $500K, while South Africa will pocket $200K and Pakistan $100K after claiming third and fourth positions, respectively.

It is a double delight for Smith's men who had earlier topped the ICC ODI Team Rankings at the annual cut-off date. It had finished comfortably ahead of second-placed New Zealand, followed by India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and England.

RANK TEAM           POINTS

1          Australia          112

2          India                110

3          South Africa   109

4          Pakistan           106

5          England           102

6          New Zealand  96

7          Sri Lanka         89

8          West Indies     76

9          Bangladesh     47

10        Zimbabwe       05