Ashes History

Ashes, The, small funereal trophy that is at stake when
England play Australia at Test match cricket, usually
every other year. The “ashes”, kept in an urn at Lord’s
cricket ground, are supposed to represent English cricket
and originate from a 19th-century episode in cricketing lore.
In August 1882 Australia defeated England at the Oval, the
first Australian Test Match victory in England. The Sporting
Times published a mock memorial notice “in affectionate
remembrance of English cricket”. It ended “The body will be
cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. The Honorable
Ivo Bligh, captain of the England team that toured Australia
in 1883-1884, vowed at a dinner prior to leaving to bring back
“those Ashes”. His team won the Test series and according
to legend some ladies in Melbourne burned a bail, placed the
ashes in a small urn, and presented them to Bligh. In his will,
Bligh (later Lord Darnley) bequeathed them to the Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC). They remain at Lord’s, the headquarters
of the MCC, irrespective of which side wins the latest series of
Test matches and there by “holds the Ashes”.