World Test Champions Australia face a quick turnaround to their next assignment, as they head to Birmingham to begin the first Test of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston, against their eternal rivals England. The Ashes is cricket’s oldest and most famous bilateral series, contested between the first two Test nations since 1877, and bearing that historic name since the English team’s 1882-83 tour Down Under.
The story behind the name of the iconic series is now the stuff of legends. It goes back to 1882, when Australia toured England for a one-off Test at the Oval in London, and shocked their hosts in a low-scoring thriller. Two days after the end of the Test, those famous lines appeared in The Sporting Times:
"In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29 August 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."
Those Ashes would become symbolic, as English captain Ivo Bligh promised to return them to home soil on their subsequent trip to Australia. They would also be memorialized in physical form in the famous urn, a small terracotta item which is now housed at the MCC.
For nearly 150 years, the Ashes have been the most significant cricketing event for both these nations, and provided some of the most iconic moments in the history of Test cricket — Botham's Ashes, Shane Warne's ball of the century, the image of Andrew Flintoff and Brett Lee shaking hands after England's nail-biting victory in 2005, or the heroics of Ben Stokes at Headingley in the 2019 series. Australia have dominated the Ashes historically, with 150 wins to England's 110, but only 34 series wins compared to England's 32, a gap the English cricketers will be keen on narrowing.
In its 2023 iteration, the battle will be between the world champion Australians under Pat Cummins, looking to retain the Ashes after a demolition of England in 2021-22, and a new-look England side under Ben Stokes who have been enthralling the world with the aggression of 'Bazball'. The first series of the new WTC cycle, these Ashes stand to tell fans a lot about what direction these two cricketing giants will head in. Watching England’s batters target Australia's world-class bowling is a battle worth tuning in for, right from the first Test beginning June 16 at Edgbaston, through to the fifth Test at the Oval in the last week of July....read more