London, Jul 20 (IANS): The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will celebrate the 100th Test match between the two countries that begins at Lord's Thursday.

ECB chairman Giles Clarke and BCCI president Shashank Manohar will have a formal exchange of gifts at the toss. The two will present former England and India captains and players with a specially made commemorative cap at an on-field ceremony during Sunday's lunch interval.

This will be followed by a parade of ex-players, among them Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Nasser Hussain, Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly.

"India and England complete a century of Test matches on 21 July 2011. It is a momentous occasion, and I join cricket-lovers in both countries in hailing all the players and administrators, who have enlivened the India-England cricketing rivalry over the decades. Test matches between India and England have been keenly fought over the years, and we are poised to witness an exciting series," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

ECB chief executive David Collier called it a "great occasion" for cricket lovers.

"We are very keen to make the 100th Test match a great occasion for everyone and give spectators an opportunity to pay tribute to those players whose performances have graced previous contests between the two countries. We are grateful to BCCI and the MCC for their co-operation in staging this series of presentations and look forward to an exciting and close-fought npower Test Match which will showcase the five-day game at its very best," he said.