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The Birth Of The Ashes: How A Newspaper Joke Sparked Cricket's Greatest Rivalry

Jatin

The Ashes was born in 1882 [Source: @NorthStandGang/x.com]The Ashes was born in 1882 [Source: @NorthStandGang/x.com]

Some cricket rivalries are built over years while others are born in a single, dramatic afternoon. The Ashes, cricket’s most iconic battle between England and Australia, was born in 1882 at The Oval when the unthinkable happened.

Playing at home and expected to walk it, England were stunned by Australia in a low-scoring thriller. What followed was satire, symbolism,and the start of a tradition that has lasted for more than 140 years.

The Oval Upset

The ninth-ever Test match and only one scheduled between England and Australia that summer, began as a scrappy, low-scoring affair on a tricky wicket. Australia were skittled out for just 63 runs in their first innings. England replied with 101, a modest lead of 38.

In the second dig, Hugh Massie’s counter-attacking 55 off 60 gave Australia a lifeline as they reached 122, leaving England just 85 runs to win. It should have been a cakewalk. But cricket has a way of turning the script on its head.

Fred “the Demon” Spofforth, fired up after W. G. Grace’s gamesmanship, famously said: “This thing can be done.” He then bowled like a man possessed and snagged four wickets for just two runs in his final burst. England folded, falling seven runs short of victory.

The Oval crowd was left speechless. Australia had beaten England on their own turf for the first time.

The Mock Obituary

The shock defeat sparked one of cricket’s greatest legends. The Sporting Times ran a tongue-in-cheek obituary for English cricket, declaring it had “died at The Oval” on 29 August 1882. The kicker came in the final line: “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”

From that single line, The Ashes were born. What began as satire became a symbol and England’s captain Ivo Bligh vowed to bring back those “ashes” when his side toured Australia that winter.

Ivo Bligh And The Urn

On that 1882–83 tour, Bligh’s men won the series 2–1, and somewhere along the way, a small terracotta urn entered the picture. Legend has it that a group of Melbourne ladies, including Bligh’s future wife Florence Morphy, presented it to him as a keepsake.

Inside were said to be the ashes of a burnt bail, though rumours later suggested it could have been anything from a stump to even part of a lady’s veil. That urn, standing just six inches tall, went on to become cricket’s most sacred relic.

It was never intended as a trophy, but when Bligh’s widow donated it to the MCC in 1927, it became the physical symbol of the rivalry.

From Satire To Staple

Interestingly, the term “The Ashes” wasn’t consistently used in the early years. For almost two decades it faded in and out of public usage, only to be revived around 1903 when England captain Pelham Warner promised to “recover the Ashes” in Australia. From there, the legend stuck and by the 1920s it had become firmly entrenched in cricket’s lexicon.

A Rivalry That Still Burns

Since that fateful day at The Oval, there have been 73 Ashes series. Australia lead with 34 wins and six retentions, while England have 32 wins and one retention. But numbers only tell half the story.

From Don Bradman’s dominance to Botham’s 1981 miracle, from Warne’s Ball of the Century to Stokes’ Headingley heroics, the Ashes has given cricket its most unforgettable chapters.

What started with a mocking obituary and a small urn has grown into the fiercest rivalry in the game. Over 140 years on, whenever England and Australia face off, it’s not just a Test series. It’s The Ashes: cricket’s oldest, fiercest and most fiery contest.