Johannesburg, 16 February 2009
“Being number one means a lot to us, it’s something we’ve never taken for granted”
“The expectation on South Africa is high… we’ll make sure we’re in the best possible shape for the first game and see where we go from there”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting got his hands on the symbol of his side’s dominance in Test cricket on Monday, the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship mace, and vowed he and his players would fight to maintain their number one status.
Ponting lifted the mace in front of a packed media conference in Johannesburg at the start of a tour that will test his side’s primacy to the limit in the ultimate form of the game.
Its status as top dog is under threat from South Africa and a series win for the Proteas in the upcoming three-match series that starts on 26 February will topple Australia from top spot for the first time in almost six years.
But Ponting, speaking after arriving from Sydney, and with the mace in front of him, said: “Anyone who plays an individual or team sport wants to be recognised as being the best. It’s what playing international sport is all about.
“We’ve been good enough over a long period of time to hang on to this trophy, we know what it takes to hang on to it and we know what it will take over the next few weeks to hang on to it again.
“(Being number one) does mean a lot to us, it’s something we’ve never taken for granted and it’s not meant we’ve haven’t worked as hard as any other team.
“What’s made us stand out is that while we’ve been recognised as number one we’ve tried to train as if we’re number two. We’ll continue to try to do that here,” he added.
Australia arrived in South Africa off the back of a first home Test series loss in 16 years, the 2-1 defeat inflicted upon it by South Africa in December and January.
To some critics that form might place Australia as the underdog but Ponting was content to look at things in a positive light and push the pressure back on the home side.
“I had it told to me (this morning in Sydney) that we were going away as underdogs,” he said.
“The expectation in South Africa is high and so it should be as they played some excellent cricket in Australia a few weeks ago. That’s what makes this series so big and so enjoyable for us.
“But I look on it a bit like the 2005 Ashes (against England) when we lost there for the first time in a long time. From there we went back to Australia, regrouped and worked hard as a team.
“It meant England came to Australia as favourites, all the expectation and pressure was on them and they didn’t live up to it.
“We’ll get stuck into work, make sure we’re in the best possible shape for the first game and see where we go from there,” he added.
Ponting left the media conference to join his team mates on a coach journey to Potchefstroom where they will play a three-day warm-up match before the first Test back in Johannesburg on 26 February.
The other two Tests in the series will be played in Durban (starting 6 March) and Cape Town (starting 19 March).
The side that tops the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship on the annual cut-off date of 1 April – and that will be either Australia or South Africa – will be US$175,000 richer with the second-placed side benefiting by US$75,000.
South Africa has already sealed the top prize of US$175,000 in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table.
Photos of the Australians’ arrival media conference are available through Getty Images. Please approach your usual contact for future details.
Background on the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship mace:
The Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship mace is presented to the team that leads the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship.
It has been in Australia’s hands for all but five months (January – May 2003, when South Africa topped the table) since it was inaugurated in May 2001.
South Africa will head the table and reclaim the mace if it beats Australia in the three-match series. But Australia will retain possession of the mace if it draws or wins the series.
The mace was produced by the then British Crown Jeweller, Asprey & Garrard, in 2001, which was commissioned to make a distinctive prize designed to stand out from other cricket trophies.
The designers produced a 90cm silver and gold-plated trophy based on a cricket stump as its shank, topped by an orb that represents the cricket world – both geographically and through the inclusion of the emblems of all 10 ICC Members that have played Test cricket.
The stump and the orb combine to portray the mace, regarded as a symbol of authority and prestige. This is regarded as an appropriate combination given the rich history of Test cricket and its image as the most traditional and purest form of the game.
The mace sits on a wooden base with a silver-plated plaque in front with room for engravings of the sides to hold it. The mace was valued at stg£30,000 in 2001 and automatically passes from one team to another as results confirm a change of leadership in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table.
ICC MEDIA RELEASE