The Ashes: What to know about cricket’s most storied rivalry
Few sporting contests carry the history, drama and aura of the Ashes. Born from a mock newspaper obituary in 1882 and symbolized by a tiny urn, the rivalry between Australia and England has shaped more than a century of test cricket.
Ahead of one of the biggest contests on the cricket calendar, here’s what to know about the upcoming five-match series.
The origins
The Ashes is one of the oldest and most iconic rivalries in international sport, featuring test cricket contests between Australia and England. Cricket tests between English and Australian teams started inAccording to the Marylebone Cricket Club, the Lord’s-based custodian of the laws of the game, the term “Ashes” was first used in August 1882 in a satirical obituary for English cricket printed in The Sporting Times after the representative team lost on home soil to Australia for the first time.
The obituary reported that the body of English cricket would be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia. English captain Ivo Bligh led a team to Australia later that year with a vow to reclaim “the ashes.”
A fan presented Bligh with a small terracotta urn as a symbol of the Ashes after an England victory. And that’s how the Ashes and the urn became intrinsically connected.The Ashes series has evolved into a regular event, held approximately every two years and alternating between the two countries.
Some classic moments
The 1932–33 “Bodyline” series remains one of the sport’s great flashpoints, with England using hostile “fast leg theory” bowling tactics to intimidate the Australian batters, especially Don Bradman. England reclaimed the Ashes, but the rules were later modified to restrict similar tactics.Gatting. It announced Warne as a generational star.
Ben Stokes delivered one of the greatest test innings ever at Headingley in 2019. His unbeaten 135, mixing supreme composure with fearless hitting, dragged England to an improbable one-wicket victory and etched a new legend into Ashes folklore.
In 2023, the Ashes produced another flashpoint when England’s Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped at Lord’s after wandering out of his crease, believing the ball to be out of play. The moment was entirely within the laws but fiercely debated for its spirit-of-cricket implications.
Shane Warne produced the “Ball of the Century” at Old Trafford in 1993, his first Ashes delivery for Australia drifting and spinning almost incomprehensibly to bowl MikeAustralia has held the Ashes since 2017, retaining the urn with series wins at home and drawn series in England, including a 2-2 result in a highly-charged tour two years ago that has simmered since with the predictable verbal jousting.
England has not won an Ashes test in Australia since 2011 — also the last time it won a series in Australia. That span includes a 5-0 loss in 2013-14, an 4-0 defeats in 2017-18 and 2021-22.
The 3-1 series loss to England in 2010-11 was Australia’s only Ashes series loss at home since it reclaimed the urn in England in 1989.