A royal touch for Test world champions

By Bipin Dani

The winner of the first ever World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand will be awarded the championship’s Mace made by M/s. Thomas Lyte, the gold and silversmiths of the United Kingdom's Royal Family.  

"To be involved in the start of a new sporting tradition is very exciting, and at Thomas Lyte we are immensely proud to be making a trophy for the first ever WTC final,” Liam Malorey‑Vibert, the company's Digital Marketing Manager said.  

“We have made many of the world’s most iconic sporting trophies, and the fact that this trophy is unlike any other we have made, makes it all the more special.  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 that we have loved.”

There are of course many other prestigious ICC cricket events, but Test cricket is the most extreme and most difficult of all forms of the sport. To be the best Test side in the world over the course of a year takes an immense team effort. The introduction of a final will be a great spectacle, and will make the Mace even more satisfying to win.

The ICC World Test Championship Mace was originally designed in 2000 by world renowned trophy designer Trevor Brown, who is a significant part of Thomas Lyte’s trophy design team.

Elaborating more about the mace, Liam Malorey-Vibert said, "The new bespoke trophy was handcrafted in Thomas Lyte’s London-based silver workshops, the handle of the mace resembles a cricket stump with a laurel ribbon spiraling up the shaft. The laurel ribbon itself, a traditional symbol of celebrating achievement, was 3D printed from a digital 3D design and then cast in base metal and gold-plated, a great example of one of the many modern methods that Thomas Lyte’s team of master silversmiths are pioneering in the trade".

"At the head of the mace is a hand-spun gold-plated cricket ball that you can see through the pierced-out oceans of the map that together emphasizes the global reach of cricket and the World Test Championship. The silver countries of the world are supported by small rods to make longitude lines which create interesting reflections off the cricket ball within. 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 12 competing test nations", he further added. 

Which side will the trophy maker would support?

“While we are first and foremost an English luxury brand and a Royal Warrant Holder as goldsmiths and silversmiths to Her Majesty the Queen, we have made many of the world’s most iconic sporting trophies.  With our handcrafted pieces embedded at the very heart of sporting triumph, we can’t pick sides. We will be excited for whoever wins, and hoping for a great final. However, there are a number of very passionate India fans in our talented team here in London that is made up of sports fanatics and fans of many teams and sports. 

With a bit of British pessimism, we’re just hoping the rain stays away", he concluded.