The Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

 is a Test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 series played between England and Australia. The series have varied in length, consisting of between one and six Test matches, but since 1998 have been consistently five matches. It is one of sport's most celebrated rivalries and dates back to 1882. It is generally played biennially, alternating between the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Although the first Test series played between England and Australia was in the 1876–77 season, the Ashes originated from the solitary Test which the two nations contested in 1882

Australian cricket team in England in 1882

The 1882 Australia v England series was at the time considered to be part of another first-class cricket tour of England, by a combined team from the Australian colonies, but the match arranged between the Australians and an England side was later accepted to be a Test match...

. England lost the match, played at The Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

, and a mock obituary

Obituary

An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...

 was posted in The Sporting Times

The Sporting Times

The Sporting Times was a weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing...

, declaring the death of English cricket. It stated that: "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." The Honourable Ivo Bligh

Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley

Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley DL, JP , styled The Honourable Ivo Bligh until 1900, was a British cricketer who captained the English team in the first ever Test series against Australia with the Ashes at stake in 1882/83...

 adopted the term and, as captain of the English party that travelled to Australia the following winter, promised to bring the "Ashes" home.

After their loss to Australia in 1882, England won the next eight series between the two sides, during which time they lost only four of the 22 Tests. Australia won an Ashes series for the first time in 1891–92, when they beat England 2–1. The 1932–33 tour  was known as the "Bodyline

Bodyline

Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...

 series" as, in response to the talented Australian batsman Don Bradman, England developed a tactic of bowling quickly at the body of the batsmen with most of the fielders placed in a close ring on the leg side

Leg side

The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...

. England won the series, but the tactic prompted changes to the laws of cricket, and the Australians, buoyed by the batting of Bradman, regained the Ashes during the next series and then held them for six series, spanning nineteen years. It was during this period that the Australians travelled to England in 1948, and remained unbeaten during the whole tour, gaining the nickname of "The Invincibles". In addition to winning the five match Test series 4–0, Australia won or drew all of their 29 other matches against county

County cricket

County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...

 and representative sides.

Australia have won more Ashes Tests than England, winning 123 of the 310 matches, compared to England's 100 victories. They have also won more Ashes series than England, winning on 31 occasions, once more than England. There have been five drawn series, and on four of these occasions, Australia have retained the Ashes due to being holders going into the series. England have retained the Ashes after a drawn series once. On only two occasions has a team won all the Tests in an Ashes series; Australia won all five matches in 1920–21, and then repeated the feat in 2006–07. England's largest winning margin in an Ashes series was in 1978–79, when they won 5–1. Both England and Australia have held the Ashes for eight series in a row, England doing so between 1882–83 and 1890

Australian cricket team in England in 1890

The Australian cricket team in England in 1890 played 34 first-class matches including 2 Tests .England won the Test series 2-0:...

, while Australia achieved the feat from 1989

Australian cricket team in England in 1989

The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1989 season to play a six-match Test series against England. The tour also included matches in Wales, Scotland, the Netherlands and Denmark.Australia won the series 4-0 with two matches drawn...

 to 2002–03. Since 1882, a small number of Test series have been played between the two sides that have not been allocated as Ashes series; those played in 1976–77, 1979–80, 1980 and 1987–88, these series are not listed in the table below.

Key

• Years denotes the cricket season
  Cricket season
  Cricket seasons are the times of the year when cricket is played.Because top-class cricket is almost always played outdoors, on uncovered pitches, and rain prevents play, the seasons in each country are geared to coincide with the driest months of the year. The hours of daylight and the temperature...
  
   in which the series takes place.
• Host denotes the host country for the series.
• First match denotes the date on which the first match of the series commenced.
• Tests denotes how many Tests were played in the series, and in parentheses (if different) the number of Tests that were scheduled to be played in the series.
• Aus denotes how many matches in the series were won by Australia.
• Eng denotes how many matches in the series were won by England.
• Drawn denotes how many matches in the series were drawn.
• Result denotes which side won the series overall, or if it was drawn.
• Holder denotes which side was awarded (or retained) the Ashes at the end of the series.

Ashes series

Series	Years	Host	First match	Tests	Aus	Eng	Drawn	Result	Holder	Ref
1	1882–83	Australia		3	1	2	0	England	England
2	1884 Australian cricket team in England in 1884 The Australian cricket team in England in 1884 played 31 first-class matches including three Tests. England won the Test series 1-0 with two matches drawn.-First Test:-Second Test:-Third Test:-External sources:* -Annual reviews:...	England		3	0	1	2	England	England
3	1884–85 English cricket team in Australia in 1884–85 The England cricket team in Australia in 1884–85 was generally known as Alfred Shaw's XI after its main organiser. The team played 8 first-class matches, including the five matches in the Test series, winning 6 and losing 2.-Test series summary:...	Australia		5	2	3	0	England	England
4	1886 Australian cricket team in England in 1886 The Australian cricket team in England in 1886 played 27 first-class matches including 3 Tests which were all won by England:* – England won by 4 wickets* – England won by an innings and 106 runs...	England		3	0	3	0	England	England
5	1886–87 English cricket team in Australia in 1886–87 The England cricket team in Australia in 1886–87, generally known as Alfred Shaw's XI, was described by Wisden as "one of the strongest that ever left England for the Colonies"...	Australia		2	0	2	0	England	England
6	1887–88	Australia		1	0	1	0	England	England
7	1888 Australian cricket team in England in 1888 The Australian cricket team in England in 1888 played 37 first-class matches including 3 Tests.-First Test:Australian captain Percy McDonnell won the toss and chose to bat first. The visitors scored 116 runs in their innings, during which only Percy McDonnell, Jack Blackham and Test debutant Jack...	England		3	1	2	0	England	England
8	1890 Australian cricket team in England in 1890 The Australian cricket team in England in 1890 played 34 first-class matches including 2 Tests .England won the Test series 2-0:...	England		2 (3)	0	2	0	England	England
9	1891–92	Australia		3	2	1	0	Australia	Australia
10	1893 Australian cricket team in England in 1893 The Australian cricket team in England in 1893 played 31 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:* – match drawn* – England won by an innings and 43 runs...	England		3	0	1	2	England	England
11	1894–95	Australia		5	2	3	0	England	England
12	1896 Australian cricket team in England in 1896 The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...	England		3	1	2	0	England	England
13	1897–98	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
14	1899 Australian cricket team in England in 1899 The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...	England		5	1	0	4	Australia	Australia
15	1901–02	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
16	1902 Australian cricket team in England in 1902 The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...	England		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
17	1903–04 English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04 The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England...	Australia		5	2	3	0	England	England
18	1905 Australian cricket team in England in 1905 The Australian cricket team in England in 1905 played 35 first-class matches including 5 Tests. Australia was captained by Joe Darling. The England captain in all five Tests was Stanley Jackson.England won the Test series 2-0 with 3 Tests drawn:...	England		5	0	2	3	England	England
19	1907–08	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
20	1909 Australian cricket team in England in 1909 The Australian cricket team in England in 1909 played 37 first-class matches including 5 Tests.Australia was captained by Monty Noble. England's captain in the first three Tests was Frederick Fane...	England		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
21	1911–12	Australia		5	1	4	0	England	England
22	1912 1912 Triangular Tournament The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time....	England		3	0	1	2	England	England
23	1920–21	Australia		5	5	0	0	Australia	Australia
24	1921 Australian cricket team in England in 1921 Australia won the 1921 Ashes series held in England. They won the first three matches against England, which meant that they had won eight in succession, an unequalled sequence in Ashes Tests, following the 5-0 drubbing they had administered to England in the 1920-21 season in Australia...	England		5	3	0	2	Australia	Australia
25	1924–25	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
26	1926 Australian cricket team in England in 1926 England won the 1926 Ashes series against Australia. England won the last Test of the series after the first four matches were drawn:*1st Test — drawn - *2nd Test — drawn - *3rd Test — drawn -...	England		5	0	1	4	England	England
27	1928–29 English cricket team in Australia in 1928–29 -Second Test :-Third Test :-Fourth Test :-Fifth Test :-Further reading:* Ralph Barker & Irving Rosenwater, England v Australia: A compendium of Test cricket between the countries 1877-1968, Batsford, 1969, ISBN 0-7134-0317-9.* Percy Fender, The Turn of the Wheel: MCC Team in Australia 1928-29,...	Australia		5	1	4	0	England	England
28	1930 Australian cricket team in England in 1930 Australia won the 1930 Ashes series against England, winning two of the matches and losing one, with the other two tests drawn:*1st Test — England won by 93 runs - *2nd Test — Australia won by 7 wickets -...	England		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
29	1932–33	Australia		5	1	4	0	England	England
30	1934 Australian cricket team in England in 1934 Australia won the 1934 Ashes series against England, winning two of the matches and losing one, with the other two tests drawn. The Australian tourists were captained by Bill Woodfull, while the home side were led by Bob Wyatt, with Cyril Walters deputising for Wyatt in the first Test.In the second...	England		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
31	1936–37	Australia		5	3	2	0	Australia	Australia
32	1938 Australian cricket team in England in 1938 The 1938 Ashes series between Australia and England was drawn. England and Australia won a Test each, with two of the other Tests drawn and the third game of the series, scheduled for Manchester, abandoned without a ball being bowled, only the second instance of this in more than 60 years of Test...	England		4 (5)	1	1	2	Drawn	Australia
33	1946–47	Australia		5	3	0	2	Australia	Australia
34	1948	England		5	4	0	1	Australia	Australia
35	1950–51	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
36	1953 Australian cricket team in England in 1953 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1953 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.England won the final Test to take the series 1-0 after the first four Tests were all drawn. England therefore recovered the Ashes for the first time since losing them in...	England		5	0	1	4	England	England
37	1954–55	Australia		5	1	3	1	England	England
38	1956 Australian cricket team in England in 1956 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1956 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.England won the series 2-1 with 2 matches drawn and therefore retained The Ashes....	England		5	1	2	2	England	England
39	1958–59 1958–59 Ashes series The 1958–59 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of five days with six hours play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1958–59 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club...	Australia		5	4	0	1	Australia	Australia
40	1961 Australian cricket team in England in 1961 The 1961 Australian cricket tour of England began with a three day match versus Worcestershire CCC at the County Ground, New Road, Worcester on Sat 29 April, play continuing on Mon 1 May and Tues 2 May. This match was rain-affected and ended in a draw...	England		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
41	1962–63 1962–63 Ashes series -Preliminaries:Predictions that the batting would prove superior to the bowling and that the first Test might well be left unfinished were certainly justified; and yet there were three times when one side or the other might have gained a winning advantage...there was some very brilliant batting,...	Australia		5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia
42	1964 Australian cricket team in England in 1964 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1964 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.Australia won the series 1-0 with 4 matches drawn and therefore retained The Ashes.-Test series summary:...	England		5	1	0	4	Australia	Australia
43	1965–66 1965–66 Ashes series Australia had substantially the better of it, Walters adding his name to the fairly select list of those who have made a hundred in their first Test...After Walters's innings I wrote that with one necessary qualification I thought he would be come to be rated as the best bat produced by Australia...	Australia		5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia
44	1968 Australian cricket team in England in 1968 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1968 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.Australia retained The Ashes after the series was drawn 1-1.-Test series summary:* at Old Trafford – Australia won by 159 runs...	England		5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia
45	1970–71 1970–71 Ashes series -Preliminaries:Ray and Bill dragged dedication around Australia for 103 days last summer...they dragged it from Brisbane to Perth and back across the Nullabor to the eastern capitals as if it was their last dollar...	Australia		6 (7)	0	2	4	England	England
46	1972 Australian cricket team in England in 1972 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1972 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes. The series was drawn 2-2 and England retained The Ashes.-Series summary:* at Old Trafford – England won by 89 runs...	England		5	2	2	1	Drawn	England
47	1974–75 1974-75 Ashes series -Preliminaries:For when Mike Denness and his side went to the ground on the Wednesday morning, two days before the First Test, the pitch to their astonishment was a morass of black mud...	Australia		6	4	1	1	Australia	Australia
48	1975 Australian cricket team in England in 1975 Following the 1975 Cricket World Cup, the Australian cricket team remained in England in the 1975 season to play a four-match Test series against England....	England		4	1	0	3	Australia	Australia
49	1977 Australian cricket team in England in 1977 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1977 season to play a five Test matches for the 1977 Ashes series against England. The Australians also played 3 one day internationals and 19 other tour matches....	England		5	0	3	2	England	England
50	1978–79	Australia		6	1	5	0	England	England
51	1981 Australian cricket team in England in 1981 The tour by the Australian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51st Ashes series of Test matches between Australia and England. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests, England won the next three Tests to finish 3–1 victors , thus retaining the Ashes...	England		6	1	3	2	England	England
52	1982–83	Australia		5	2	1	2	Australia	Australia
53	1985 Australian cricket team in England in 1985 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1985 season to play a six-match Test series against England.England won the series 3-1 with two matches drawn...	England		6	1	3	2	England	England
54	1986–87	Australia		5	1	2	2	England	England
55	1989 1989 Ashes series The 1989 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 8 June 1989, England and Australia played six Tests, with the Ashes previously having been held by England since the 1985 Ashes series.The final result was a 4-0...	England		6	4	0	2	Australia	Australia
56	1990–91	Australia		5	3	0	2	Australia	Australia
57	1993 Australian cricket team in England in 1993 Four players debuted in the First Test: Andy Caddick and Peter Such for England and Brendon Julian and Michael Slater for the tourists. The new Australian opening partnership of Slater and Mark Taylor dominated the first part of the first day, putting on 128 for the first wicket, but it was Such...	England		6	4	1	1	Australia	Australia
58	1994–95	Australia		5	3	1	1	Australia	Australia
59	1997 Australian cricket team in England in 1997 The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1997 season to play a six-match Ashes Test series against England. Australia, under Mark Taylor, won the series 3-2 with strong batting performances from Matthew Elliott supporting the strong attack of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Jason...	England		6	3	2	1	Australia	Australia
60	1998–99	Australia		5	3	1	1	Australia	Australia
61	2001 Australian cricket team in England in 2001 -Second Test: 19 – 22 July 2001:-Third Test: 2 – 6 August 2001:Australia retained the Ashes with a seven-wicket victory over England in the third Test at Trent Bridge. England won the toss and chose to bat first, England needed to win the game to give them a outisde chance of winning the Ashes. But...	England		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
62	2002–03	Australia		5	4	1	0	Australia	Australia
63	2005 2005 Ashes series The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors...	England		5	1	2	2	England	England
64	2006–07	Australia		5	5	0	0	Australia	Australia
65	2009 2009 Ashes series The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests, with England winning the series 2–1...	England		5	1	2	2	England	England
66	2010–11 2010–11 Ashes series The 2010–11 Ashes series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of Australia during the 2010–11 cricket season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011...	Australia		5	1	3	1	England	England

Summary of results

	Played	Won by Australia	Won by England	Drawn	All Tests	310	123 (40%)	100 (31.8%)	87 (28.2%)
Tests in Australia	157	77 (50%)	56 (34.8%)	24 (15.2%)
Tests in England	153	46 (30.1%)	44 (28.7%)	63 (41.2%)	All series	66	31 (48.4%)	30 (43.8%)	5 (7.8%)
Series in Australia	33	17 (53.1%)	14 (40.6%)	2 (6.3%)
Series in England	33	14 (42.4%)	16 (48.5%)	3 (9.1%)
All totals correct as of February 2011. Totals compiled from table above.