Things you might not know about THE ASHES

CRICKET fans groaned when Australia battered a lacklustre England team to retain The Ashes.

But what are The Ashes and why are they so important to cricket fans?

Here are some facts… 1

THE term Ashes originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, after Australia’s 1882 victory at The Oval, its first win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.

2

THE ashes became associated with the 1882– 83 series played in Australia, before which England captain Ivo Bligh vowed to “regain those ashes”. The

English media dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes.

3

AFTER England had won two of the three Tests on the tour, a small urn was presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women including Florence Morphy, whom Bligh married.

4

THE contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of a bail but in truth, nobody knows.

5

THE historic urn is too fragile to travel, so it’s kept on display at the MCC Museum at Lord’s.

6

WHEN hosting the event, each country uses a different venue for each match. English grounds include Old Trafford, The Oval, Lord’s, Trent Bridge, Headingley and Edgbaston. Australia usually uses The Gabba, the MCG, the Adelaide Oval and the SCG.

7

THERE have been 72 Ashes series: Australia have won 34, England have won 32 with six draws.

8

AUSTRALIA has embarrassed England by winning every Test in a series three times: 1920- 21, 2006- 07 and 2013- 14. England has never been able to achieve the same feat, achieving their most decisive result in 197879, when they won 5- 1. 9IN

a drawn series, the holders keep the urn. This has happened in 1938, 1962- 63, 1965- 66, 1968 and 1972. On the first four occasions, Australia was the team to hold on, while England benefited in 1972. 10

IN their 1932– 33 Ashes tour of Australia, England deployed their new and controversial “bodyline” tactic to combat the batting of cricket legend Don Bradman. The resulting row almost led to war between the two countries.