Top 5 Facts About the Ashes
It's one of sport's oldest and fiercest rivalries. Welcome to WatchMojo UK and today we'll be counting down our picks for the top 5 facts about The Ashes!
For this list, we're exploring the ins and outs of cricket's most prestigious match-up, England V Australia.
Special thanks to our user WordToTheWes for submitting the idea on our interactive suggestion tool: WatchMojo.comsuggest
#5: The Ashes: Origins
We open the batting in 1882, as Australia defeat England for the first time on English soil. The countries had met previously, with the visitors famously fielding an aboriginal team in 1868, but always as a standalone event. Following this inaugural loss at The Oval however, the press lambasted the home side, with the Sporting Times penning an obituary for English cricket and suggesting that its ‘ashes’ had been taken to Australia. When team captain hon. Ivo Bligh led an English tour Down Under three months later, the goal was to regain them. Eventual victory on their rival’s patch saw Bligh and co. presented with a little urn, and the rest is history.
#4: A Matter of Diplomacy
Cricket’s a gentlemen’s game, right? Not during the 1932-3 series in Australia, when aggressive English tactics threatened international relations. In a bid to stop the legendary Aussie, Don Bradman, England deployed bodyline bowling tactics, controversially forcing defensive batsmen to edge into the slips. Under Douglas Jardine’s captaincy and with Harold Larwood leading the attack, the tourists cruised to a 4-1 win. But not before causing some serious injuries and being branded ‘unsportsmanlike’. That term sparked public uproar at home, and England/Australia trade agreements were stretched to breaking point before it was rescinded.
#3: The Billy Midwinter Story
The Ashes anecdotes are ample. There’s Fred Trueman sleeping in his car before dismantling Australia in 1961; David Gower’s heroics with a borrowed bat in ’85; David Boon sinking 52 beers on his flight to the ’89 series. But our middle order is Billy Midwinter’s, the only man to play for both sides. With four England outings and eight appearances for Australia, Midwinter’s career stretched across the pre and post-Ashes eras. A standout moment came in 1878. He was preparing to bat for Australia but was kidnapped by WG Grace. The iconic Englishman and Gloucestershire captain was incensed when Midwinter dropped county duties for his adopted country, so he bundled him in a cab and forced him to the crease.
#2: The Stats to Beat
Records are made to be broken, but some will stand for a long, long time. Don Bradman isn’t likely to be toppled on the run-scoring charts, with 5,028. His closest rival, Jack Hobbs, notched 3,636. An Englishman takes the highest single score, however; Len Hutton with 364 in 1938. But it’s Bradman who boasts the most centuries, with 19. Shane Warne tops the table for wickets taken, with 195; but England’s Jim Laker landed the most in a single match, taking 19 for just 90 runs, in 1956. Most catches? That’s Ian Botham, with 54. Most appearances? Australia’s Syd Gregory. But, Gregory also holds an unwanted record… With eleven ducks, he’s scored zero more than any other Ashes player.
#1: The Little Urn is a Love Story
Despite all the animosity and the endless sledging, The Ashes is really just a long-running romance. Florence Morphy helped present the urn (which may have been Morphy’s perfume bottle) to Ivo Bligh in 1882. The occasion was one of the first times the pair had met, but they’d eventually marry and become Earl and Countess of Darnley. And they kept the urn until Bligh’s death, when his wife donated it to Marylebone Cricket Club, where it has stayed ever since (besides two ceremonial tours of Australia). Believed to contain the ashes of a burnt bail, and featuring a verse from Melbourne Punch magazine, the urn is just 11cm high. It’s one of sport’s smallest but most historic prizes.
