What Are The Ashes Exactly? (as In Cricket)

The ashes are the name of a cricket series played between Australia and England dating back to the year 1882. The reason they are called the ashes can be traced back to the year 1882 as well. Then the Australian side beat England at The Oval in England. Following this defeat an obituary that was satirical appeared in the newspaper The Sporting Times.

The obituary stated brashly that English Cricket was now dead, that its corpse would end up being cremated and its ashes would be sent to Australia. When the next series was to be played in Australia the English media called it a quest, namely "the quest to regain the ashes". This was in the year 1882-83. During the tour some Australian women prepared an urn with the ashes of some cricket equipment and made a presentation of this to Ivo Bligh the then English Captain.

Ashes is an international cricket test series between selected national teams of England and Australia, first staged in 1877. The bi-annual Ashes cricket series, played between England and Australia, is the most widely followed competition of its type, by both spectators and media alike.

In August 1882 an Australian side humiliated the England team giving rise to the legend of ashes. This legend rose through the printing of a mock memorial notice in remembrance of English cricket in the 'Sporting Times' with the intimation that the Ashes would be cremated and taken to Australia.

It was long believed that the real Ashes - a small urn thought to contain the ashes of a bail used in the third match - were presented to the captain of English team Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. It can be seen in the cricket museum at Lord's, together with a red and gold velvet bag, along with the scorecard of the 1882 match.

Since 1882 England and Australia have played a series in Cricket. In 1882 Australia beat England and an article about the game, was published in The Sporting Times as an obituary of the English team. In Wikipedia you can find the article states, "English Cricket had died and the 'body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

The next time the tow teams played the media referred to the game as "the quest to regain The Ashes." (Wikipedia) The ashes are purported to be the ashes from burning a piece of Cricket equipment. The ashes are retained in a small urn made from terracotta. The original urn is not the urn passed on the winner of the series played biennially.

Since 1999 a Waterford crystal representation of the original Ashes urn is presented to the winning team. The original is presently in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum. Australia currently has the Ashes.