Playing down the damage to the World Cup trophy, the ICC has allayed fears, saying that the prized silverware is only a replica.
DUBAI: Playing down the damage to the World Cup trophy, the ICC has allayed fears, saying that the prized silverware is only a replica which has been insured and asked everyone not to create a mountain out of a molehill.
ICC Media Manager Brian Murgatroyd said, ''The World Cup trophy is insured against damages and if it is damaged it can be repaired.''
''What is given out to the winners for keeps is a replica. And Australia have two of these replicas due to their wins in 1999 and 2003.
''If it is damaged, it can be repaired. So why make a big issue about it?,''Murgatroyd was quoted as saying by 'The Gulf News'.
The trophy - to be awarded to the winners in the Caribbean on April 28 - was damaged while on display in Kolkata.
The gold ring below the coins, depicting previous winners of cricket's biggest tournament, gave way while on display in Kolkata on Thursday. The trophy was removed from public view and sent to the ICC headquarters in Dubai, from where it has been sent to London for repairs.
''The lower ring of the World Cup was detached from the wooden base when the trophy was received from the ICC,'' said a statement in India from LG - one of the sponsors of the ICC World Cup.
The ICC's media manager stressed that the original trophy was safe at the ICC headquarters in Dubai.
"'The silverware is a perpetual trophy and it is kept at the ICC headquarters in Dubai,'' Murgatroyd said.
Meanwhile, ICC policy does not allow anyone, except the official trophy makers, to repair/polish the trophy.
The current trophy was created for the 1999 ICC World Cup. It was the first permanent prize in the history of the tournament.
The trophy, designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co, took two months to be made.
A replica - which differs from the original only in the inscriptions - is permanently awarded to the winning team.
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