ONLY now can the true cost of Australia’s humiliating defeat against Pakistan in the recent Test series in Abu Dhabi be revealed.

Not only did the Aussies lose their first series since the 2013 Ashes, they also lost the unofficial world championship of cricket.

What’s that, you say? Let us explain.

If you draw a line all the way back to the first game of Test cricket played between Australia and England in 1877, you’ll find Australia entered the Pakistan series as unofficial world champions.

Think of it like a boxing title — if you beat the champ, you become the champ.

Cricket geeks will remember Australia recorded a 45-run win against the Poms in 1877, thus becoming the unofficial world champions of cricket.

Their reign was short-lived — just 16 days — as England won the second Test to claim the championship.

It bounced back and forth between the two Ashes rivals over the next 20 years (they were the only ones playing Test cricket) before South Africa entered the scene in 1906.

Since then the West Indies, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka have all held the crown.

Australia regained it for the first time since 2006 when they won the opening Test of their series in South Africa earlier this year.

They immediately handed it back by losing the second Test, but regained it in the Third to enter last month’s series against Pakistan as world champions.

A 221 run First Test defeat saw Pakistan take the title and they’ve now defended it twice — in the second Test against Australia and the first Test of their current series against New Zealand.

Here are a few interesting facts about the unofficial world championship of cricket for the statistically-minded:

ENGLAND has the record for the longest reign as unofficial world champion, holding the title for 3276 days from 1911-20 (a stretch affected by World War I).

AUSTRALIA holds the record for the most successful defences at 24. The Aussies claimed the championship from England in Brisbane in 1946 and didn’t lose another Test match until 1951 (the champion keeps the title in the event of a draw).

AUSTRALIA’S recent run was its 54th separate reign as champion. England has had 48, West Indies 19, Pakistan 18, South Africa 16, India 15, New Zealand eight and Sri Lanka seven.

The idea of an unofficial world championship actually came from football.

It stemmed from some Scotland fans who jokingly asserted they were world champions after becoming the first country to defeat England after they won the World Cup in 1966.

In 2003, England journalist Paul Brown formalised the Unofficial Football World Championship, tracing back results to the second game played between England and Scotland in 1873 (the first was a draw).

Brazil is the current champion, having defeated Argentina — who defeated World Cup winner Germany — in October.

The Socceroos have never held the title, missing opportunities to claim the championship in a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands in Sydney in 2009 and a 1-0 defeat against Japan in the 2011 Asian Cup final.