Five facts on the Ashes
LONDON – Five things to know about the Ashes cricket series between England and Australia, which started yesterday: WHAT ’ S IN A NAME? Every couple of years – usually – the top cricketers in England and Australia do battle for a tiny terracotta urn said to contain some ashes. The name for the series originates from a mock obituary placed in Britain’s Sporting Times newspaper in 1882 after England’s cricketers lost to Australia on home soil for the first time. “In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at The Oval, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P,” the paper wrote.
“The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”
Later that year, in a rematch in Australia, England won the three-test series. After the third match, some Australians are said to have burned one of the bails, little wooden blocks that sit atop the stumps, put the ashes in an urn and presented it to the England captain. WHY SUCH A FIERCE RIVALRY? The British are the one-time colonial masters of far-flung Australia. Between 1788 and 1868, about 160 000 convicts were sent to Australia from Britain. Most were poor and illiterate, and records indicate eight out of 10 prisoners were convicted for larceny or petty theft. English sporting fans rarely let the Australians forget the roots of their nation, while Australians deride their northern hemisphere cousins as “whinging Poms” WHO WILL WIN THE URN? Australia dominated the Ashes for almost two decades until England won the last two series. Confidence is so high in England that former captain Ian Botham is not only predicting a 5-0 whitewash in this series, but also in the next one, which starts in Australia just months after the conclusion of this series.
The series winner is decided over five tests – the traditional form of the sport in which each match stretches to five days. IT’S JUST NOT CRICKET: In a sport that stops for tea every afternoon, cricket retains the image of being a genteel pastime where English gents and players sip tea and chew crumpets. It’s an image that’s becoming increasingly dated.
The Ashes series isn’t the first time Australia and England have clashes in cricket this summer, having also been paired in the Champions Trophy, an ODI tournament staged in England last month.
After Australia’s 48-run loss to England, the players ended up in the same bar in the centre of Birmingham and tensions between the rivals boiled over.
Australia batsman David Warner punched England player Joe Root in the face, which led to him being fined by team bosses and dropped from some matches. DOES THE WORLD CARE? In countries where the Ashes is not on TV, the England and Wales Cricket Board is streaming matches for free on YouTube.
One US woman is unlikely to be seeking coverage. When tweeting on the Ashes, the handle @theashes is often included on postings. But that’s the Twitter name used by Ashley Kerekes, who knows nothing about the sport. Cricket fans started bombarding Kerekes with messages after the 66th Ashes series in 2010. She issued a series of polite denials before coming out with the phrase that still features on her profile “I’m not a freaking cricket match!” yet she now embraces her fame during each series. –