England to celebrate top rank with former players

The England Cricket Board will invite former players, including Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff, on the final day of the fourth Test against India to celebrate the team's rise to the top of ICC rankings.

The Board will be inviting players involved in England's rise to the top to attend the final day of the fourth Test against India at The Oval, The Daily Mail reported.

The ECB will go back as far as 2007 to compile a guest list of cricketers deemed to have been pieces in the jigsaw, the report added.

As many as 23 cricketers, including the 13 in the squad for the fourth and final Test of the ongoing series, have represented England in Tests since Andy Flower took over as coach of the team.

Flower, who first emerged on the scene as an assistant to Peter Moores, was appointed full-time following the tour of the Caribbean in 2009.

The event is likely to witness the presence of Paul Collingwood, Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom apart from former captain Nasser Hussain, among those, who are not the part of the squad.

Flower reportedly will also use the occasion to credit the role played by Hussain, who helped mastermind England's recovery along with the current Indian coach Duncan Fletcher after the team slipped to the bottom of the rankings in 1999 following its lost to New Zealand at home.

Though, the details of the celebrations for the day are still being finalised, the Board has extended the invitations to the players' wives and girlfriends.