History of the Ashes
One of Crickets most famous and eagerly anticipated test matches. The Ashes series played between England and Australia, is a Biennially event. Each country takes it in turn to hold the event, both country's play this match in their summer months so the break between matches can be 18 months to 30 months. Australia and England have played test matches since 1877 however the 1882 series is what the ashes is all about. During the 1882 series only one test match was played at the Oval it was a disappointing low scoring game on what was described as a difficult wicket Australia made a miserly 63 runs in the first innings and England who were led by 'Boss' Hornby, took a 38 run lead with a total of 101, The second innings saw the Aussies score a run a minute 55 from Hugh Massie to haul themselves to an unimpressive 122 leaving England with only 85 runs to win the test. A dispirited Australian side took to the field where in true Aussie style fast bowler Fred Spofforth refused to concede the game and went on to totally devastate the English batting taking his final four wickets for only 2 runs leaving England 7 runs short of victory, Ted Peate England's last batsman came to the crease needing to hit 10 runs to win the game for his side, however Aussie bowler Harry Boyle had other ideas and he bowled Peate for only two runs, The Oval fell silent in utter disbelief that England could lose to a colony. However in true sportmanship the crowd soon recovered and cheered the Aussies and they even chaired Boyle and Spofforth to the pavilion.
This defeat was widely reported in the English press who all praised the Aussies for their pluck, on 31st August 1882 the Weekly magazine Cricket published a mock obituary it read:
Sacred to the memory of England's Supremacy in the cricket Field which expired on the 29th August at the Oval "it's End was Peate" However two days later on 2nd September a second more famous mock obituary published by the Sporting Times this was written by Reginald Brooks under the pseudonym of "Bloobs"
In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. N.B. - The Body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
The term ashes was then dropped from popular usage it wasn't until twenty years later that Pelham Warner took a team to Australia with the promise that he would regain "the ashes". The Aussie press took this term to heart and after that the name stuck. Having won that series Warner published a book entitled how we recovered the Ashes.
An Ashes test match series comprises of five test matches with two innings per match the match is held under normal rules for international test match cricket. Should the series be drawn the holding nation retains the ashes.
How did the ashes start: Credit is given to the Sporting Times who in 1882 after a test match held at the Oval Cricket Ground in London, Australia beat England for the first time on English soil, published a spoof obituary stating that English Cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. When England returned to Australia on the 1882/83 tour the English media dubbed the tour as the quest to regain the Ashes. During that tour a small Terracotta urn was presented as a gift to the then England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne ladies. The contents of the urn have been reputed to have held the ashes of an item of Cricket equipment some say it's a bail, ball or stump. Although there is a claim that they are the remains of a lady's veil. The truth is they are just ashes and no one knows the true origin apart from those original Melbourne ladies and sadly they aren't talking.
One of the great myths about the ashes is that people believe that they actually play for the Melbourne Urn. This can be forgiven because victorious teams often hold aloft a replica of this urn. The original is kept in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at Lord's where is has resided since being presented to the club by Ivo Bligh's widow..
During the 1998-99 ashes series, a Waterford Crystal representation of the Bligh urn has been presented to the winners of an Ashes series as a trophy of that series.
Ashes Cricket News
The Aussie series of this great sporting rivalry will start on the 25th of November will visit Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and finish in Sydney by which time if the Aussies haven't totally exhausted our guys by dragging them half way round the world we should have retained our ashes.
