Australia versus England - The Origin of the Ashes

Cricket is a keen battle between willow and leather. On the international stage, unbridled patriotism and
undercurrent hostilities fuel the battle even further. From the onset, matches between English imperial
masters and Australian colonists were tense and competitive- defeat left a bitter taste in the mouth. The
Ashes is an iconic Test series between perennial enemies England and Australia. In the eyes of English and
Aussie cricket players and fans, "The Ashes" is a war; each match is a battle.

To the uninitiated cricket fan, the 'Ashes' has a peculiar name with no immediately obvious. Although
England and Australia played matches as early as 1876, the legend of the 'Ashes' only began a few years
later- in 1882. During a topsy-turvy match at The Oval in London, Australia set England a meagre 85 runs
to win, after an embarrassing first-innings effort.

The wicket was difficult to bat on, but victory for England seemed a formality. Australian speed demon,
Fred Spofforth, had other ideas. He annihilated a strong England batting line-up to hand Australia their
first victory on English soil by a mere seven runs. The distinction and manner of the defeat inspired
Reginald Brooks to write a satirical obituary marking the death of English cricket as follows:
"In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August, 1882. Deeply
lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB The body will be cremated and
the Ashes taken to Australia." (Source: Cricinfo)

Before its momentous defeat against Australia on home soil, England had already scheduled a tour to
Australia a few weeks later for a return series. Based on Brooks' cheeky obituary, that return tour became
a "quest to regain the Ashes". The Australian media helped to spread the legend for that tour. The
popularity of the quest to regain the Ashes led a group of Australian women to present an urn of ashes as
a gift to England captain Ivo Bligh on that return tour.

There is considerable mystery surrounding the contents of that original urn. One account has it as a burnt
bail from the 1882 match. Other accounts suggest that it is the remains of a woman's veil or a cricket ball.
Even after the urn was created, the Ashes concept remained low-key for two decades- it was not officially
recognized as the name for the bilateral series between England and Australia until 1903, when the MCC
organized tours to Australia. England won that series and the captain subsequently wrote a book titled
"How we recovered the Ashes". From then onwards, the Ashes consistently used to describe series
between England and Australia.

The Ashes series between England and Australia owes its name to good humour by Reginald Brooks and
the Melbourne women who created the urn. Replicas of that tiny urn symbolize the Ashes conquest. The
original urn is on display at the cricket museum at Lord's cricket ground- home of the Marylebone Cricket
Club. The small size of the urn bears no reflection on the magnitude and occasion surrounding crickets
oldest and most celebrated bilateral series.

https://www.facebook.com/cashfortraveling/

https://twitter.com/cash4traveling

http://www.cashfortraveling.net/