The Ashes Test

The Ashes Test Cricket series is played between Australia and England and it commemorates the oldest and the most celebrated ‘animosity’ between the two countries that dates back to 1882. It is played biennially and alternates between the two countries.

The series has been so named after a satirical obituary was published in 1882 in The Sporting Times. It was written after The Oval Match when England was beaten for the first time on English soil. The obituary stated that cricket had died and after cremation the ashes will be taken to Australia. The next English tour was the quest to try and regain back the Ashes.

The Ashes Urn

The Ashes Urn is a small terracotta urn the contents of which are believed to be the ashes of a ball, bail or stump. It was during the 1882-83 tour that some Melbourne women presented this urn to the then Captain Ivo Bligh and till today it is preserved in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at Lord's.

The venue for the Ashes Test series

The Ashes Cricket series alternates between Australia and England and the five matches are held in different cricket grounds.

England- the main cricketing grounds in England are The Oval, Trent Bridge, Trent Bridge, Lord's, Old Trafford, Headingley and Edgbaston.

Australia- In Australia the grounds where the matches are played are the "The Gabba" in Brisbane, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Adelaide Oval, and the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Australia has won unfalteringly in the test since the Ashes series that was played in 1920-1921. The series in 2006-07 was particularly notable as many of the important Australian cricketers had retired. They were Glenn McGrath, Damien Martin, Shane Warne and Justin Langer. Ricky Ponting won the Player of the Series award.

The popularity of the Ashes

The Ashes is a grand series by itself and its popularity has led to other matches and tournaments between England and Australia. There is the Rugby league and also the British Television Show by the name of ‘Gladiators’ in which there were two series based on this contest.

The books Life, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and also the Universe and Everything features the Ashes Urn. The film The Final Test is based on the story of a player who is playing the last Ashes series of his career.

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