As England and Australia gear up for some action in the Ashes which begins from August 1, at Edgbaston, do we really know as to how was such a name for the historic cricket series invented?
The term Ashes gained popularity after Australia's first Test match win in England. The side from down under trumped England for the first time in England at the Oval on August 21, 1882. At that time, the English were the best cricketing nation ad such a loss was not taken well by its citizens.
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After the defeat, the Sunday Times presented a mock obituary which showed the condition of cricket in the country. It stated that England cricket will be cremated and the ashes would be taken to Australia.
Pretty soon after two months, England led by Hon Ivo Bligh visited Australia to play the series. He promised a comeback. The Aussie skipper WL Murdoch said that he would do anything to keep the Ashes. So since then, the rivalry series has been called as Ashes and it became one of the oldest and legendary rivalries in cricket.
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After that defeat at the Oval, England went on to defeat Australia in the next eight series between both of them. Australia recorded their first Ashes series win in 1891-92, edging past England 2-1.
Both sides have played 346 Tests against each other, in which England has won 108 matches, meanwhile Australia has won 114. 94 matches have ended in a draw. They last faced each other in the 2017/18 season. Australia won the series.
(ANI Inputs)
