ASHES TEST SERIES : stories and interesting records!

The ASHES TEST series is one of the most reputed as well as one of the oldest cricketing event in the cricket horizon. The Ashes test series is played between the two cricket rivalries Australia and England. The Ashes Series that comprises of five tests series is currently played                biennially (occurring in two year) comprising of two innings as per the regular rules of test cricket. The team that wins the Ashes takes the Ashes trophy but in case if a match ends in a draw , the team which had previously won the match will retain the trophy.

Ashes Series Logo

Ashes Trophy (URN) and Australia, England flags

The Story
There is an interesting story linked with how the series got this interesting name. The story dates back to 1882. In those days, England has been the dominating nation in the cricket game itself. It was kind of impossible for any cricket playing country to defeat England in its home ground. Australia played a single test match on their visit to England. And during that test Australia defeated England for the first time in the history of cricket in their own land. The whole England was devastated by this shocking defeat. The English cricket fans and media were the great sufferers of this painful stroke.

Meanwhile a sport based English newspaper The Sporting Times(ceased publication in 1932)  posted a satirical obituary on behalf of the English cricket. The reporter who wrote the obituary mentioned that the ever winning and mighty English cricket has came to an end and the English Cricket has died at the Oval, London. The obituary read that English cricket has died, the body will be cremated and the ashes will be taken back to Australia.

Obituary posted in THE SPORTING TIMES, 1882

After the obituary was posted the English media announced about the English tour to Australia  (1882-1883) in order to regain the "ashes". Thus after the Australia defeated England in 1882 at Oval, the English cricket came to death , a rivalry series was born which was baptized as "THE ASHES SERIES".

THE ASHES TROPHY (The Ashes urn)

After England was defeated in  Oval in 1882, the English team visited Australia former year as quest to regain "the ashes".  During that tour a small terracotta urn was presented to England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. The contents of the urn are rumored  to be the ashes of an item of cricket equipment, a cricket ball and a bail. The urn is erroneously believed by some to be the trophy of the Ashes series, but it has never been formally adopted as such and Bligh always considered it to be a personal gift. Replicas of the urn are often held aloft by victorious teams as a symbol of their victory in an Ashes series, but the actual urn has never been presented or displayed as a trophy in this way. Whichever side holds the Ashes, the urn normally remains in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Museum at Lord's since being presented to the MCC by Bligh's widow upon his death.

The Original Ashes Urn 

Since the 1998–99 Ashes series, a Waterford Crystal representation of the Ashes urn has been presented to the winners of an Ashes series as the official trophy of that series.

The present waterford crystal model of Ashes Urn presented as trophy

Interesting Records

• Australia's Dough Walters holds the unofficial record of emptying 52 cans of beers on Australia tour of England.
• Australia's Syd Gregory holds the record for most number of ducks(11) in Ashes test series from 92 innings between 1890 and 1912.
• Dullest batsman : Geoff Boycott of England faced 8568 balls in Ashes tests, but never hit a ball for six.
• Fewest run in a complete session: England's Trevor 'Barnacle' Bailey scored 8 runs during the test of 1958-1959.
• Australia's  Clarrie Grimmett bowled 9164 balls (1500 six ball overs) in the Ashes tests without a single recorded no ball or wide. 
• Fast Scorer: Australia's Stan McCabe scored most runs in a session (127 of 100 balls)
• Highest debut score :  In 1903, at Sydney, Reginald 'Tip' Foster (England) scored 287 in his first Test match. This remains the highest total on debut for all internationals.
• Slow Starter : John Murray of England took 80 balls(faced) to get off the mark. Carl Rackemann is the Aussie record holder at 76 balls faced. 
• Oldest Debutante: The age of debutant James Southerton (England) was 49 years when he stepped onto the field in 1877.
• Australia's winning margin in the first Ashes test (1877) and the centenary test (1977) was same i.e. 45 runs