Ashes Series

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Following the first match a satirical obituary was published in an English newspaper, “The Sporting News”, stating that English cricket had died and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.

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The series, which is held every other year and alternates between the two countries, got its name when the media called England’s 1882-1883 tour to Australia as “the quest to regain The Ashes”.

A small terracotta urn is the trophy that is presented to the winning team after the five-test tournament. The contents of the urn are said to be ashes of the cricket bails that were burnt. The Ashes urn is permanently housed in the Melbourne Cricket Club and since the 1998-99 series a replica of the urn made of Waterford Crystal is presented to the winning club.

A team must win a series outright to gain the right to hold The Ashes. If a series ends in a draw, the previous holder retains the trophy.

Ashes series have generally been played over five-test matches, but there have been four and six-match series.

Since 1882 there have been 64 Ashes series played. Australia has won 31 times and England 28. There have been five draws with Australia retaining the urn four times and England once. Throughout the series, there have been 315 matches played with Australia winning 130 times and England 97 times. There have been 88 draws.

Australia regained The Ashes in the 2006-07 series by winning, 5-0. It was only the second Ashes shutout. Australia also won, 5-0, in 1920-21. England won the match in 2005. It was the first time in 18 years that England had won the series.

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