LAHORE, Aug 17: The Pakistan team which won the Oval Test against England in 1954 was awarded medals and cash prizes by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a special ceremony at National Cricket Academy on Monday night.

Pakistan won the fourth Test by 24 runs after losing the second at Trent Bridge to square the series 1-1. Each member of the team was awarded Rs 200,000 each and a medal. The legendary batsman Hanif Mohammad could not attend the ceremony due to indisposition.

The awards given posthumously were received by the dead members' relatives. The ceremony, which was followed by a music programme, was to be held at Qadhafi Stadium but heavy rain forced the organizers to shift it to the indoor hall at NCA.

On the occasion, a video film of the historical match titled "The Glorious Memories of 1954", recently purchased by PCB was also shown to the fans. Speaking to newsmen, Fazal Mahmood said that he was fully confident Pakistan would win the match at the Oval regardless of early difficulties.

Others who attended the celebrations were Imtiaz Ahmed, Alimuddin, Wazir Mohammad, Zulfiqar Ahmad, Khan Mohammad and Shujauddin. PCB also had invited England players who played in that historic match to attend the celebrations but the living ones declined citing various reasons.