A short
history of
the Ashes
urn
What is the Ashes Urn?
The Ashes urn is a small
terracotta artifact standing
only 11 cm high. It was
presented to Ivo Bligh, the
captain of the English
Cricket Team, during the
1882-83 tour in Australia as
a personal gift. The urn has
come to represent “The
Ashes of English Cricket”
which is a term first used in
1882.
England first home test defeat
In 1982, the Australian
cricket team visited
England to play a one off
test match at the Oval
cricket ground. This was
before the Ashes was
thought of. WG Grace was
playing for England. Sadly
for England, they were
defeated by seven runs and
this was he first ever test
match loss on home soil.
The death of English cricket
Due to the loss against Australia, Brooks wrote the now
legendary mock obituary in ‘The Sporting Times’. It is
perhaps the most important piece of cricket writing in
history, and his words live on over 130 years later.
Aiming to regain the Ashes
Later in 1982, Brooks' obituary
joke was followed up by the new
England captain, the Hon. Ivo
Bligh, who set sail for the
1982/83 winter's return series
in Australia. He pledged to
"bring back the ashes” in
response to ‘the death of
English cricket’ and 'the body
will be cremated and the ashes
taken to Australia'. He repeated
the statement when arriving in
Melbourne, and the legend of
'the Ashes’ took hold.
The 1982/83 birth of the Ashes
England lost the first Test,
but won the series 2-1. This
included the first ever
innings victory in Test
cricket. Afterwards, a group
of Melbourne ladies (one of
whom would later marry the
England captain) presented
Bligh with a small,
terracotta urn containing
the ashes of something.
What is inside the Ashes urn?
Most versions of the story say a bail is inside, but
others claim a stump, a ball and even a veil.
The leading authority on all things cricket, Wisden,
retold the story of the Ashes in its 1954 book and
claimed the ashes came from a stump used in the
third Test.
This version appeared in future editions until 1970
when a stump from the 3rd test match was replaced
by a bail.
Most importantly, the Ashes was born, and the
English and Australians have been competing for
and arguing about it ever since.
What is written on the Ashes urn?
The England team of 1882/83