The Ashes is the first ever international rivalry in the sport of cricket, dating back to the late 19th century. More than 130 years on, it remains as one of the most cherished battles between Australia and England in Test match cricket.
Australia and England were the first two teams to play international cricket way back in 1877 and it was in 1882 that the first ever Ashes was played. Not that it was named as the Ashes before the series started, but it was the loss of the series for England that made a newspaper The Sporting Times, call it the ashes of English cricket.
There was a mock obituary carried out in the newspaper, which said, “English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”
This led fans to say that England needed to tour Australia and win back those ashes, leading the name of the series to be called the Ashes. Only the first nine Test matches played between Australia and England are not a part of the Ashes.
In recent times, England has had the better of the exchanges, and have won three of the previous four Ashes. This includes the regaining of the Ashes in 2005 and 2009 and the retaining in 2010-11. The only Australian win in these last four Ashes series came in 2006-07 where they went on to win the series 5-0. Before 2005, the last time England had won the Ashes was in 1987, after which Australia held the urn for 17 years.
Australia lead the head-to-head in the Ashes series, having won 123 Test matches to England’s 100 games so far, as compared to the 87 draws.
According to the rules, the Ashes is hosted alternatively by Australia and England during their respective seasons. England usually plays in the months of June-September at home while Australia hosts Tests at home in December-January.
