The urn, one of the world's most famous - and smallest - trophies © Getty Images Enlarge
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  THE ASHES   1861-2010

• Ashes history: 1861-1888
• Ashes history: 1890-1914
• Ashes history: 1920-1938
• Ashes history: 1946-1970
• Ashes history: 1970-1989
• Ashes history: 1990-present

"In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia."
Australia's first victory on English soil over the full strength of England, on August 29, 1882, inspired a young London journalist, Reginald Shirley Brooks, to write this mock "obituary''. It appeared in the Sporting Times.
Before England's defeat at The Oval, by seven runs, arrangements had already been made for the Hon. Ivo Bligh, afterwards Lord Darnley, to lead a team to Australia. Three weeks later they set out, now with the popular objective of recovering the Ashes. In the event, Australia won the first Test by nine wickets, but with England winning the next two it became generally accepted that they brought back the Ashes.
It was long believed that the real Ashes - a small urn thought to contain the ashes of a bail used in the third match - were presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. In 1998, Lord Darnley's 82-year-old daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law's veil, not a bail. Other evidence suggests a ball. The certain origin of the Ashes, therefore, is the subject of some dispute.
After Lord Darnley's death in 1927, the urn was given to MCC by Lord Darnley's Australian-born widow, Florence. It can be seen in the cricket museum at Lord's, together with a red and gold velvet bag, made specially for it, and the scorecard of the 1882 match.
The text on the urn is as follows:-
When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.

England Vs Australia Ashes Test 1877    

Test matches in the period 1877 to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international cricket

matches today. The teams were rarely representative, and the boat trip between Australia and England, which usually lasted about 48 days, was one that many cricketers (especially amateurs) were unable or unwilling to undertake. As such, the home teams enjoyed a great advantage.
Thirteen Test Matches were played during the period, all between Australian and English sides. Most were not styled as representative "England v. Australia" contests, however: this description was only applied later by cricket statisticians. The same is true of their designation as "Test matches", which did not enter into the vernacular until 1885.^{[citation needed]} Eleven of the thirteen matches played to 1883 were in Australia, where the colonials made the most of their home advantage, winning seven while England won four, and two matches were drawn.
By 1883, the tradition of England-Australia tours was well established, that year having concluded the first Ashes series. When England lost at home for the first time in 1882, The Sporting Times lamented the death of cricket in the mother country and declared that "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". England captain Ivo Bligh promised that on the tour to Australia in 1882–83 he would regain "the ashes" and the term began to be established. During that tour a small terracotta urn was presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. The urn is commonly, but erroneously, believed 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.^[1]
A number of the problems that continue to bedevil cricket today had already surfaced by 1883: there were umpiring disputes, betting controversies, match-fixing, and even a riot.

Genesis of Test cricket

There was a long build-up to what became the first Test tour. The inaugural overseas visit of leading English cricketers was organised by John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, a strong player himself. Having recently been an ambassador to France, where he promoted the game of cricket, Dorset arranged a tour to that country in 1789. Although it is unclear whom they were to play against, his men did get as far as an assembly in Dover, ready for the cross-Channel trip to France. The Duke's timing was poor, however, for the French Revolution had just broken out. His cricket tour became the first one to be abandoned for political reasons.
It was not until the 19th century that strong "England" teams began to form. By the late 18th, there were many games played by sides designated "England" — "England" vs "Hambledon" and "England" vs "Kent", for instance — but these were not truly representative. By 1846, however, William Clarke, a bricklayer from Nottingham, had formed the All-England Eleven, a mostly professional team of top cricketers who toured the country, taking on local sides. Leading amateurs such as Alfred Mynn also played on occasion. Matches were usually against the odds, with eleven men in their team versus 22 for the opposition, to make it a more interesting and even contest.
In 1852, together with fellow Sussex man Jemmy Dean, John Wisden founded the United All-England Eleven, providing both financial and sporting competition to Clarke's side. The matches between these two became the highlight of every English season, and the teams, both essentially business ventures, went a long way to popularising the game in England.
The year 1859 saw the first main representative tour by an England team. It was captained by George Parr and comprised six players from the All-England Eleven, together with another six from the United All-England XI. The team toured North America, where cricket was very popular — especially in the United States and Canada. The match in New York, for example, is said to have been watched by 10,000 people, but this may well be an exaggeration. Even more saw the team when it played in Philadelphia, the spiritual home of North American cricket. All matches were played against the odds, and the tour was a financial success, the English players making £90 each.
The year 1861 brought the first English side to Australia. North America was avoided this time because of the Civil War. It was a weak side, dominated by Surrey players because George Parr and his Notts men would not accept £150 per head plus expenses. The Englishmen won half their twelve matches, losing two and drawing four, all against the odds. This was followed in 1863/64 by another tour to both Australia and New Zealand, led by George Parr and including the amateur EM Grace, older brother of WG.
In 1868 a team of Australian Aborigines toured England — see Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868 — becoming the first Australians to visit England. Also in that year, an English side, led by Edgar Willsher, toured North America and beat an XXII of the United States and an XXII of Canada. An English side toured North America for the third time, in 1872, led by RA Fitzgerald. Among its number was WG Grace, who was already recognised as the greatest cricketer in England. In 1873/4, Grace himself led a tour to Australia which included four amateurs. The most important game was played and won against a XV of New South Wales and Victoria. Up to this point, all but one match had been played against odds.

The first Test tour: 1876/77

Two Englishmen tried to promote separate tours to Australia for the 1876/77 season: James Lillywhite pushed a tour of professional cricketers, while Fred Grace (another of that immortal kin) promoted one that would have included amateurs. Despite the many initial preparations for Grace's tour, it fell through, leaving Lillywhite's to go solo. It visited New Zealand first and then Australia. Its highlights were two games against a Combined Australia XI, which later came to be recognised as the first Test Matches.
Lillywhite's team was considered weak. It did not include any of the leading amateurs of the day, like "The Champion" WG Grace, and was further handicapped after its only specialist wicketkeeper, Ted Pooley, was left behind in New Zealand facing a charge of assault. The Australasian wrote of Lillywhite's men that they were

by a long way the weakest side that have ever played in the colonies, notwithstanding the presence of Shaw, who is termed the premier bowler of England. If Ulyett, Emmett, and Hill are specimens of the best fast bowling in England, all we can say is, either they have not shown their proper form, or British bowling has sadly deteriorated.

The first Test, against a Combined Australia XI, was billed as the "Grand Combination Match", and was scheduled to be held at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, because the Melbourne Cricket Ground had been booked by Grace. With Grace having pulled out, however, Lillywhite moved his matches to the larger, and more profitable, MCG, to the considerable ire of the East Melbourne functionaries. The Combined Australia XI included cricketers from New South Wales and Victoria, but there were also some notable absentees. Fred Spofforth, Australia's legendary "Demon Bowler", did not play in the first Test as a show of dissent at the non-selection of Billy Murdoch, the New South Wales wicket-keeper to whom he then attributed much of his success. He declared that he would play only if Murdoch kept wicket, but Jack Blackham had already been chosen. Spofforth's appeal was seen as a display of insolence shocking in a man of twenty-three. "As this could not be arranged," went the sardonic remark of the time, "this modest gentleman was left out."^[2] Despite the name of the Australian side, all but four of its members were British-born.

The first Test

Main article: English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1876–77

At 13:00 on March 15, 1877, the first Test began. It was dominated by Charles Bannerman, who scored the first single in Test history off Alfred Shaw's second ball, was dropped on ten by Tom Armitage off the same bowler (who himself would drop Bannerman twice)^[3] and had 27 by lunch at 14:00, with the Combined XI 42 for three. Bannerman increased his scoring rate after the interval and reached his century at 16:25, by which time the crowd was around 4,500. By the close of play at 17:00, he had moved on to 126, and Combined Australia was 166 for six. Bannerman took his score to 165 on the second day before he was forced to retire hurt after a delivery from George Ulyett split the index finger of his right hand. Australia was 240 for 7 at that stage; the innings promptly collapsed to 245 all out.
Bannerman scored 67% of the runs in the innings, which remains a record today. His score is still the highest by an Australian on Test debut, and the ninth highest by all players. His performance so impressed the public that a subscription raised more than £80 for him.^{[citation needed]}
On the third day, a Saturday, play started earlier at 12:15. There were approximately 12,000 spectators in the ground, a figure abetted by England's having conceded a first-innings lead. Lillywhite's XI fought back, though, with five for 38 from Shaw and three for 39 from Ulyett. By the close, Australia had been reduced to 83 for nine, a lead of just 132.
On the fourth morning, Australia's last-wicket stand extended the lead to 153, and Lillywhite's XI collapsed to 108 all out in just over two hours. Australia thus won by 45 runs, and the crowd was vociferous in its congratulations. Captain Dave Gregory, was given a gold medal by the Victorian Cricket Association, while his team-mates received silver medals. Losing captain James Lillywhite was magnanimous in defeat. "The win," he said, "was [...] a feather in their cap and a distinction that no Englishman will begrudge them [...]."

The second Test

Following the success of the first Test, a second was quickly arranged, with the tourists taking a larger slice of the gate receipts. Melbourne Cricket Club contributed £50 to the cost of bringing New South Welshmen, such as Spofforth and Murdoch, down to Melbourne. Lillywhite's team proved itself stronger than The Australasian had suggested, and went on to win the match.
On the first day, Australia won the toss but was tied down completely by the English bowlers. Billy Midwinter top-scored with 31 as Australia struggled slowly to 122 in 112.1 four-ball overs. Australia struck back immediately, however, leaving England seven for two at the close. The attendance that first Saturday was poor, with only 4,500 paying to get into the ground.
The second day was all England's, as a solid performance took the score to 261 all out at the close, a lead of 139. Lillywhite's XI was so dominant that there were rumours that they had deliberately underperformed in the first game so as to secure better odds from bookmakers on winning the second, or at the very least bolster gate receipts.
England was still on top on the third day, despite a better Australian performance: at stumps, the hosts were 207 for seven, Lillywhite himself having picked up four wickets. Only 1,500 were watching by the time his side was set 121 to win on the Wednesday. Victory was secured by early afternoon.
The Test Matches, particularly the first one, greatly excited the colonial press. There was little coverage in England, however, and it was only later, once they were recognised as Tests, that any real note was taken of them there.
England in Australia 1876/7. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Drawn 1-1.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
1	15,16,17,19 March 1877	Dave Gregory	James Lillywhite	Melbourne Cricket Ground	AUS by 45 runs
2	31 March, 2,3,4 April 1877	Dave Gregory	James Lillywhite	Melbourne Cricket Ground	ENG by 4 wkts

1878, 1878-1879 and 1880 Tours

ter the success of Lillywhite's tour, the Australians decided to visit England in 1878. WG Grace and James

Lillywhite both suggested promoting the tour themselves, but leading Australian cricketers eventually put up the money of their own account, and Lillywhite helped them to arrange the matches. The Australians acquitted themselves well, losing only four of the matches that they played on equal terms. They also beat a Marylebone Cricket Club team that included Grace by nine wickets. Although the MCC is considered stronger than Lillywhite's 1876-77 men, the match has not been accorded Test status. Still, its result did much to increase the reputation of Australian cricket in England.^[4] The success of the tour encouraged Lillywhite and Shaw to raise another team to visit Australia, but they both withdrew when the MCC asked Lord Harris to lead a tour. The captaincy was first offered to Monkey Hornby, but he demurred to his Lordship. The team was originally intended to be all amateur, but, in the end, professionals Emmett and Ulyett were added to the squad, mostly for bowling duties. Harris and Hornby brought their wives with them.
The highlight of the tour was the match billed as an "English XI" versus "Dave Gregory's Australian XI", which was later recognised as a Test. Harris's side was weak, with a long batting tail. The game was largely unremarkable, decided as it was primarily by the weather. Harris won the toss and elected to bat after thunderstorms struck on the morning before the opening afternoon's play. His side fell foul of this error and was soon all out for 113, Spofforth taking the first Test hat-trick. Australia was 95 for three by stumps.
Australia was well ahead by the end of the second day. Around 7,000 spectators, the same as on the opening day, saw the score taken to 256. English round-arm fast bowler Tom Emmett secured a Test career-best of seven for 68. With England 103 for six at the close, it was clear that the third day would not last long. England reached 160, and Australia knocked off the nineteen required runs in only eleven deliveries. The early finish led to an impromptu second match between an MCC XI and a New Zealand team from Canterbury.
Five weeks after the match, one of cricket's early riots took place and led to the cancellation of the return match. It was widely reported in England, as a consequence of which the 1880 Australian tour to England was guaranteed a frosty welcome. The team found it difficult to secure good opponents, with most counties turning it down, although Yorkshire took it on in two unofficial matches; indeed, so sparse did the fixture list become that the side resorted to advertising itself, offering to play any team that would accept it. The English public was more sympathetic towards the Australian captain Billy Murdoch than his predecessor Dave Gregory,^{[citation needed]} however, and this led Harris to be persuaded by the secretary of Surrey County Cricket Club, C. W. Alcock, to put a team together to play them at Surrey's home ground, The Oval.
In view of what had happened at Sydney, this was a generous gesture by his Lordship. Hornby, Emmett and Ulyett, three of the players who saw the riot, refused to play, but Harris assembled a strong team that included the Grace brotherhood, making for the first instance of three sibling playing in the same Test. Australia was without star bowler Spofforth, who had sustained a hand injury in Yorkshire from a decidedly illicit local bowler.
The 1880 Test match was well attended: there were 20,814 paying spectators on the Monday, 19,863 on Tuesday and 3,751 on Wednesday. For the first two days, it was a one-sided affair. WG Grace hit 152 as England piled up 420, all but ten of which came on the first day.
On the second day, Australia scored 149 and was forced to follow-on, slumping to 170 for six at the close, still 101 behind. A chanceless and undefeated 153 by Murdoch lifted Australia to 327, forcing England to bat again. The hosts, chasing a target of just 57, sunk to 31 for five before WG saw them to a five-wicket victory. Significantly, the animosity that arose from the Sydney Riot was overcome, this match helping to cement the custom of cricket tours between England and Australia.
England in Australia 1878/9. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One-off Test. Result: Australia win.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
3	2,3,4 January 1879	Dave Gregory	Lord Harris	Melbourne Cricket Ground	AUS by 10 wkts

Australia in England 1880. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One-off Test. Result: England win.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
4	6,7,8 September 1880	Lord Harris	Billy Murdoch	The Oval	ENG by 5 wkts

Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury's first tour 1881/2

After the 1876/7 tour Lillywhite invited Shaw to join him in promoting and managing a tour to Australia. Shaw was concerned that the financial burdens may be too great for two men, so Arthur Shrewsbury was brought in as a third backer. After Lord Harris's intervening tour, the three men put together their first tour to Australia in 1881, going via America. At the time Shaw was rated England's best defensive bowler and Shrewsbury England's best defensive batsmen. Lillywhite no longer played, but did umpire in a number of games. All the tourists were professional players.
They lost money on the American leg of the tour, and could only scrape together less than £1,000 to pay for their steamship journey to Sydney. This was made worse as the Americans refused to accept Bank of England banknotes as payment, and the captain of their ship, the SS Australia, a Sydneysider himself, personally agreed to guarantee their fare.
Betting scandals have been part of cricket from its earliest days, and it was in a match against Victoria before the first Test of the tour that they surfaced. There was very heavy betting on the match. Victoria needed 94 runs to win in the last innings when the tourists' boat was due to leave, meaning that the match would be a draw. The Victorians, anxious for a win, asked Shaw and Lillywhite to play out the game. They agreed, but only if the sailing of their boat was delayed till 7pm after the match; to their surprise, the boat company consented. However, there were rumours that two Englishmen had tried to throw the game. In response Shaw bet £1 on an England victory and made every other member of his team do likewise. Remarkably, the Victorians were bowled out for 75, leaving Shaw's side the winner by 18 runs. But the rumours of match-fixing did not go away: On the boat journey to Adelaide, Billy Midwinter, who is the only man to play Test cricket for England against Australia and Australia against England, made accusations that led to a scuffle with the two men believed to have been implicated. Discretion from those reporting the tour means that the names of the alleged match-fixers cannot be identified with any certainty, but it was suggested that one of the players had dropped the simplest of catches, the other taken a catch only after the ball got into his shirtsleeve and became stuck.
Later Shaw said, "It was a remarkably curious circumstance." The Australasian wrote, "Professional cricketers who keep late hours, make bets to some and are seen drinking champagne at an early hours with members of the betting tent cannot be surprised if people put a wrong construction on their conduct."
When the Test matches were played, for the first time a South Australian, George Giffen, was selected to play. The first Test saw the biggest crowds then on record: 16,500 on the Saturday; 20,000 on the Monday and 10,000 on the Tuesday. England had the better of a game that was drawn after the fourth day as Shaw's side needed to catch a steamship for New Zealand at 6.30pm. Chasing 277 Australia had made 127 for 3 by the end of the game.
In the second Test, England made a tortuous 133 in 115 four-ball overs, with Eugene Palmer taking 7 for 68. By close of play on the first day, Australia were in the driving seat at 86 for 1. Whilst England recovered to dismiss them for 197 and then made 232 themselves, they were never going to stop Australia getting the 169 runs they needed to win. The third Test was even more one-sided. England got 188. Then Australia made 262, with Percy McDonnell making 147, Alec Bannerman 70, and no other batsman scoring more than 7! England again collapsed to 134, and Australia won by 6 wickets.
Although the fourth Test was billed as being "timeless", in practice, because of Shaw's team's other engagements, the game could only last four days. After three days only 22 wickets had fallen, with the most notable performance being a Test-career best 149 for George Ulyett. The fourth day of the fourth Test was wiped out by rain, and so the Test was drawn. The Englishmen went to their other commitments, and the Australians set sail to England.
England in Australia 1881/2. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Australia win 2-0.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
5	31 December 1881, 2,3,4 January 1882	Billy Murdoch	Alfred Shaw	Melbourne Cricket Ground	DRAWN by agreement
6	17,18,20,21 February 1882	Billy Murdoch	Alfred Shaw	Sydney Cricket Ground	AUS by 5 wkts
7	3,4,6,7 March 1882	Billy Murdoch	Alfred Shaw	Sydney Cricket Ground	AUS by 6 wkts
8	10,11,13,14 March 1882	Billy Murdoch	Alfred Shaw	Melbourne Cricket Ground	DRAWN by agreement

The Ashes legend

Further information: The Ashes

Australia win in England 1882

Billy Murdoch's Australian side only played one Test in their 1882 tour. As hosts, Surrey County Cricket Club asked A N Hornby to captain the side against them. It turned out to be Spofforth's match, however, as Australia's "Demon bowler" took fourteen wickets for ninety runs to bowl England out for 77 and give Australia victory by seven runs. The rain-damaged pitch helped England's two left-arm bowlers, Barlow and Peate, who dismissed Australia for 63 in two-and-a-quarter hours. England made 101 in reply, with Spofforth taking 7 for 46. After more rain on the second day, Australia lifted its score to 122, thanks to a quickfire 55 from Massie. The match was fiercely contested, as evidenced by WG Grace's gamesmanship in running out the naïve 21-year-old Sammy Jones, who had been batting well with his captain. Murdoch hit one into the legside, and Jones reached the other end comfortably in time to make the single. He then left his crease to go and attend to a divot on the wicket. Grace whipped off the bails and appealed. Square-leg umpire Bob Thoms delivered his verdict: "If you claim it, Sir! Out!"^[5] Murdoch's protests fell on deaf ears; the run-out was quite legitimate, but Grace's unsporting behaviour irked the Australians, whose collective will to win was fired-up by it.
During the interval, Spofforth made an announcement to his team-mates in the dressing-room: "This thing can be done.!" In spite of being reduced to fifteen for two early on, England made a good start in its pursuit of a victory target of 85. The score rose to 51 for two, with Grace and Ulyett hitting out strongly. Spofforth changed ends, and Neville Cardus wrote thus of this move: "Now I was behind his arm; I could see his superb break-back. And he bowled mainly medium pace at this time. With each off-break I could see his right hand, at the end of the swing over, finish near the left side, 'cutting' under the ball. Sometimes his arm went straight over and continued straight down in the follow-through – and then the batsmen had to tackle fierce topspin. There was the sense of the inimical in his aspect now. He seemed taller than he was half an hour ago, the right arm more sinuous. There was no excitement in him he was ... cold-blooded."^[6]
Spofforth presently claimed Ulyett, and Boyle had Grace caught by Bannerman at mid-off, making it 53 for four. Now, amidst great tension, Lucas and Lyttleton played out twelve maiden overs in succession. "Suddenly", wrote CP Moody (the man famous for compiling the first accepted list of Test Matches), "a new phase came over the innings. The batsmen could not get the ball past fieldsmen. Spofforth was bowling the most remarkable break-backs at tremendous pace; Boyle, from the other end, maintained a perfect length; Blackham with matchless skill took every ball that passed the batsmen ... every fieldsman strained his nerves to the utmost." It was now that Spofforth suggested to his captain Murdoch that they allow the batsmen to change ends. Alec Bannerman deliberately misfielded a stroke from Lyttleton, allowing the batsmen to take a single and end the monotony. "Something of the spirit of the struggle", wrote Moody, "pervaded the thousands of spectators, and their oppressive silence was punctuated by a mighty shout when Lyttleton broke the spell with a single."^[7] This meant that Spofforth could now have a go at him. After four more runless overs, Spofforth knocked over Lyttleton's stumps. That made it 66 for five, England needing nineteen more to win.
"I observed the incoming batsmen", Tom Horan wrote later. "They had ashen faces and parched lips."."^[8] England had collapsed to 75 for 8, at which time Charles Studd, a batsman who had twice scored centuries against the Australians that summer arrived at the wicket. Studd had earlier been seen shivering, covered in a blanket in the pavilion. Studd denied the story that was put about that he was the victim of nerves, saying that he was cold due to the freezing weather.^[9]
"Now Boyle's perinacious accuracy was rewarded", wrote Moody. "Off the first ball of his over Barnes was caught off the glove by Murdoch at point."^[10] Last man Ted Peate came to the wicket now. "The scorer's hand shook so that he wrote Peate's name like 'Geese'", Horan tells us.^[8] Unfortunately, this can not be verified, as the England scorecard has been lost, and the Australian one reads very clearly and certainly does not say "Geese".
"Peate", wrote Moody, "swished the first ball to leg for two, flukily played the next one, tried to hit the last ball of the over, but missed, and it bowled him. The game was won by seven runs."^[10] Studd had not faced a delivery. Peate later explained his actions, although there are numerous accounts of his actual words. Thankfully, they do not vary much from "Ah couldn't troost Maister Stood!"
One spectator died of heart failure at the end of the Australian innings (rather than during the tense finishing stages, as has often been claimed); another is said to have bitten through his brother-in-law's umbrella handle. For the first time, an England side had lost a Test Match in England.
Spofforth, having taken seven for 44 in this innings (making it fourteen for ninety in the match), bowled his last eleven overs for two runs and four wickets, those two runs and four wickets coming off his last seven deliveries. He was carried shoulder-high from the field. His break-backs had been almost unplayable on this wicket; indeed, Giffen believed that every single one of them would have destroyed the stumps had not the bat got in the way.
After the match, a mock obituary was famously inserted in the Sporting Times, which read:

"In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th 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."

Australia in England 1882. Match length: 3 days. Balls per over: 4. One off Test. Result: Australia win.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
9	28,29 August 1882	A N Hornby	Billy Murdoch	The Oval	AUS by 7 runs

Bligh reclaims the Ashes 1882/3

Bligh originally intended to tour Australia in 1882/3 with a team consisting only of Cambridge University cricketers. (Oxford and Cambridge Universities had very highly-rated teams at the time.) This plan did not come fully to fruition, however, and Bligh ended up taking a team of eight amateurs and four professionals on the long voyage. Bligh was contracted to play three games against the same team that had beaten A N Hornby's side in England during the 1882 season, and he responded to the joke about the Ashes at dinner parties by saying his team would "beard the kangaroo in his den and try and recover those ashes". In response, at a banquet at the Melbourne Town Hall, Australian captain Billy Murdoch said, "Our boys fairly won the ashes and we confidently rely on them to retain possession or at least for the present. When, as we hope, we have shown our visitors that they cannot recover the ashes, we can then place the sacred dust in a suitable urn in our Public Library, as a curiosity to be shown to visitors with respect and esteem as the result of the Australian prowess in the cricket field."
Whilst Bligh's team was strong, it did miss three or four of the leading English cricketers, most notably WG Grace. On the way to Australia the side also survived a collision between their vessel, the SS Peshawaur and the Glen Roy 500 km south of Columbo.^{[disambiguation needed]} Fast bowler Fred Morley suffered a broken rib and severe bruising, which limited his appearances on the tour and contributed to his early death two years later. Walter Read had this to say: "It was altogether a terrible affair, and it is a wonder we were not all drowned."
The first two representative games were styled as the "Honourable Ivo Bligh's Team versus Mr Murdoch's XI". The Aussies took £200 per player in each of these games as record-breaking crowds poured into the M.C.G., and the New Year's Day attendance was 23,000. The highlight of the first Test was an innings of 85 in 135 minutes from George Bonnor as Australia made 291 in its first innings. Rain came down during the England innings, making the pitch more difficult than it had been. England, struggling to cope with this, made only 177 and was forced to follow on 114 runs behind. Mr Murdoch's XI won easily by 9 wickets, and the Colonial press saw the victory as confirmation of Australia's superiority. Bligh, however, later commented, "Some of us still cherished the hope that our turn was yet to come."
The second game was more controversial. As the pitch deteriorated there were arguments as to which bowlers were responsible for encroaching onto it. When Bates, an occasional spin bowler on the tour, took England's first Test cricket hat-trick, there were suggestions that he had been aided by Barlow's footmarks. Bligh asked Barlow to change his shoes to pacify things, although the English later accused Spofforth of damaging the pitch too. Bligh's success at the toss helped England enormously, however, and Australia capitulated to an innings defeat.
After the controversy in the second Test at Melbourne, it was agreed to use two pitches at Sydney in the third match of the series, which stood at one-all now. After winning the toss, England made 247, and Australia replied with 218. In the latter innings, Alec Bannerman batted just over four hours to score 94. Figures of seven for 44 from Fred Spofforth saw England collapse to 123, before Dick Barlow's seven for 40 had the Australians collapsing themselves to 83 and losing by 69 runs. Bligh had won the three match series 2-1, and England's pride was restored.
A fourth match was played against a "United Australian XI", which was even stronger than Murdoch's team that had lost the Ashes. As an experiment, a separate pitch was prepared for each innings. Australia won the game by 4 wickets, but it was (and still is) not recognised as a part of the Ashes series of 1882/83. England won the toss once again and batted first, 135 Allan Steel scoring 135 to see the tourists to 263. Australia's response was one less at 262, but England's 197 in the second innings did not set much of a target, and Australia won comfortably. A fifth match was proposed and discussed, but it did not materialise.
England in Australia 1882/3. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: England win 2-1.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
10	30 December 1882,1,2 January 1883	Billy Murdoch	Ivo Bligh	Melbourne Cricket Ground	AUS by 9 wkts
11	19,20,22 January 1883	Billy Murdoch	Ivo Bligh	Melbourne Cricket Ground	ENG by Inns&27 runs
12	26,27,29,30 January 1883	Billy Murdoch	Ivo Bligh	Sydney Cricket Ground	ENG by 69 runs

England in Australia 1882/3. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One off Test. Result: Australia won.

No.	Date	Home captain	Away captain	Venue	Result
13	17,19,20,21 February 1883	Billy Murdoch	Ivo Bligh	Sydney Cricket Ground	AUS by 4 wkts

 

Notes

1. ^ "The Ashes History". Lords: The home of cricket. http://www.lords.org/history/the-ashes/. 
2. ^ Barker 1967, p. 7.
3. ^ Meredith 1990, p. 61.
4. ^ Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p. 259.
5. ^ Quoted in a Charles Pardon article in Bell's Life. Pardon thought it to be "unlikely" that Thoms would have said this and promised his readers that he would find the truth later. Indeed, he "took the first opportunity of asking Thoms what he really did say, telling him at the same time what I had heard. He, as I expected, denied having said anything more than the necessary word. 'Out!' Thoms told me the point was a very simple one, the ball was not dead, and the batsman was run out. If Grace, instead of going up to the wicket and putting off the bails, had thrown at the stumps and missed them, the batsman could, and probably would, have run again, and then everyone would have said what a smart thing the Australians had done. Jones did a foolish, thoughtless thing in going out of his ground, and he paid the penalty of rashness. "
6. ^ Cardus, Days in the Sun. (Cardus, of course, was not even born when this match took place. Nevertheless, his reconstruction of events, probably based on old newspaper accounts and interviews, is one of the best-recognised of the many that have been compiled on this game.)
7. ^ Quoted in Pollard, Jack: Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players (Hodder and Stoughton, 1982), pp. 371–372.
8. ^ ^{a b} Horan article in The Australasian
9. ^ Norman P. Grubb: C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer (Lutterworth Press, 2003), p. 29.
10. ^ ^{a b} Quoted in Hutchinson; Ross: 200 Seasons of Australian Cricket, p. 372.

References

• Gibson, Alan: The Cricket Captains of England ISBN 1-85145-395-4.
• Green, Benny (ed.): Wisden Anthology 1864–1900 ISBN 0-356-10732-9.
• Grubb, Norman P.: C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer (Lutterworth Press, 2003). ISBN 0-7188-3028-8, p. 29.
• Frith, David: Australia versus England: A Pictorial History of every Test Match since 1877 ISBN 0-670-90323-X.
• Joy Munns, Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Birthplace of the Ashes (Sunbury, 1994), ISBN 0-646-22153-1, for the origin of the Ashes
• Piesse, Ken: Cricket's Colosseum, 125 Years of Test Cricket at the MCG, ISBN 1-74066-064-1.
• Barclay's World of Cricket (Collins, 1980), ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p259.

A short history of the Ashes

England Vs Australia 1861 - 1888

 

The first tour of Australia, a privately-run affair led by HH Stephenson, took place in 1861-62 and, like many contests at that time, most matches were against odds. The idea of the tour was to make money and so games were arranged where returns were best. George Parr (1863-64) followed with a side that remained unbeaten throughout, and in 1868 Charles Lawrence, who toured with Stephenson, put together an Aboriginal side which played 47 matches in England and overcame the loss of one of their number to tuberculosis during the trip.

1876-77

James Lillywhite's tour was another private venture entirely made up of professionals played games in Australia at either end of an exhausting trip to New Zealand (where they left Edward Pooley, their wicketkeeper, in jail after falling foul of the law for betting on a tour match). On March 15, 1877 came the start of what we now consider the first Test ever, and Australia ran our winners by 45 runs. England were by this time exhausted and their fielding was dire. At the time the game was considered by all taking part to be little more than another match, and was billed locally as James Lillywhite's XI v South Australia and New South Wales. The touring party left England on September 21 and did not return until early June.
Australia 1 England 0

1878-79

ID Walker was asked to tour with an amateur side - he found it impossible to raise one and so the XI was supplemented with two professionals - and so it was utterly unrepresentative of English cricket. In the end, even Walker could not go, and so Lord Harris led the trip. In between visiting the USA and New Zealand, a one-off Test (again, never considered anything of the sort at the time) took place early in the trip and Spofforth's 13 for 110 ensured an Australian win by 10 wickets. Harris concluded that betting on matches - widespread and used by some players as a means to supplement their income - should be outlawed. England's side was again weak, and included Leland Hone, an Irishman who had never played county cricket, to keep wicket ... although he wasn't even a wicketkeeper.
Australia 1 England 0

1880

The Australians tour was a low-key affair and they often struggled to find opposition as many officials snootily dismissed the tourists' ability. The match against England was organised at the last minute and took place in mid September. England, with amateurs to the fore, won the game with WG Grace - one of three brothers in the XI - making 152. The Demon Spofforth took 391 wickets on tour at an average of 5.63 but, crucially, missed the Test with an injured finger.
England 1 Australia 0

1881-82

Lillywhite, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury led the most gruelling tour to date, again playing matches in the USA en route, The tour was blighted by the gambling that Harris had condemned three years. Against Victoria, the English players made a killing when they wagered £1 each when the odds were 30-1 on them winning; there were also widespread rumours than two tourists had been paid £100 each to throw a match. A third - Billy Midwinter - refused to join and was beaten up by the other two when he reported the approach to Shaw. The first Test was drawn - the first instance in Test history - as England had to catch a ship, and the final one suffered the same fate. It was to be the last drawn Test in Australia for more than 60 years.
Australia 2 England 0 Drawn 2

1882

The birth of the Ashes after Australia won a thrilling Test at The Oval, dismissing England for 69 after they had been set only 77 to win. Spofforth took 14 for 90 in the match, and bowled his last 11 overs for 2 runs and 4 wickets. The match resulted in a mock obituary for English cricket penned by Reginald Shirley Brooks appearing in The Sporting Times and the legend began.
England 0 Australia 1

1882-83

The Hon. Ivo Bligh travelled back to Australia and recaptured the Ashes (which he had stated before the trip was his goal) by virtue of a 2-1 series win. The trip out was tough - a mid-Ocean collision so injured Fred Morley that he was a virtual passenger for the whole tour and he never really recovered. England lost the opening Test (the first three games were billed as Mr Murdoch's XI v The Hon Ivo F.W. Bligh's Team) but England bounced back to win the next two, although the third game at the SCG was marred by a row over bowlers deliberately cutting up the pitch in their follow throughs - it was peculiarity of the series that each captain could chose which pitch of the four prepared to bat on. It was after that game that some ladies took a bail, burnt it, and placed it in an urn which they presented to Bligh. The symbolic Ashes now had a tangible presence. Australia did win a fourth "Test" (this time taking the field as a Combined Australia XI) but the match was considered unofficial as far as the series was concerned although it does count in the record books.
Australia 2 England 2

1884

For the first time both teams were at full strength. The series started with Old Trafford's Test debut - the first day was rained out, and with matches only lasting three days, that inevitably meant a draw. Lord's followed - also staging its first Test - and England won by an innings. An oddity was that Murdoch caught one of his own players as he was at the time fielding as a substitute for the injured WG Grace! The Oval produced a high-scoring bore, notable only for Alfred Lyttleton, the England wicketkeeper, taking 4 for 19 with lobs while Grace took a catch off his first ball as stand-in wicketkeeper. Spofforth again blew through the land with 207 wickets at 13.25.
England 1 Australia 0 Drawn 2

1884-85

Shrewsbury led this side on a tour marred by disputes between the teams over payments and umpires, and for the first time there were five Tests. England won the opening Test, but a strike by the Australians meant for the next match they fielded a reserve side (under the name Combined Australia) and were predictably well beaten. Some players returned for the next Test, and Australia won a nail-biter by seven runs. England had problems of their own as Billy Barnes refused to bowl during a row with his captain. Australia leveled the series at the SCG, but England won the decider by an innings. They fielded the same XI throughout, while Australia were so unsettled that they even had a different captain for each Test.
Australia 2 England 3

1886

The Australians were weak and their best players were past their best, so the 3-0 series whitewash was not unexpected. They were also seriously hampered by the loss of Spofforth from June onwards. This was the first tour organised under the auspices of the Melbourne CC rather than private individuals.
England 3 Australia 0

1886-87

An all-professional side included only 11 tourists, making team selection fairly straightforward, and they won the two Tests, but both were close matches. England's George Lohmann took 25 wickets for 189 runs while Turner and Ferris took 35 of the 40 wickets to fall to the Australians
England 2 Australia 0

1887-88

Utter confusion as two "England" sides toured. One, led by Lord Hawke, went at the official invitation of the Melbourne CC, the other, raised by the disgruntled organisers of the earlier trips (Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury) travelled after an invite from New South Wales and were captained by C Aubrey Smith. Both groups travelled on the same boat, toured separately, but joined forces for the match between a Combined England Team and Combined Australia (the only Test of the trip). Once again, several Australians refused to play in a dispute over pay, and England won after bowling them out for 42 and 82.
England 1 Australia 0

1888

Australia ended a run of seven straight defeats with a win in the opening Test at Lord's - 27 wickets fell on the second day in three hours after a storm - but in three Tests Australia only once exceeded 100 and England won both the remaining Test by an innings. At The Oval, another rain-affected track on the second day resulted in Australia losing 18 wickets before lunch. Ferris and Turner took 534 wickets on the tour, and since their joint debuts had accounted for 85 of the 96 wickets taken by Australia.
England 2 Australia 1

England v Australia 1890 - 1914

1890

Billy Murdoch led a strong Australian side but their batting deficiencies were exposed on English pitches and they were bowled out cheaply in both Tests. WG Grace led England from the front at Lord's, although the Oval Test went down to the wire as England squeezed home by two wickets. Their cause was not helped when Yorkshire refused to release Bobby Peel and George Ulyett and Andrew Stoddart opted to play for Middlesex rather than his country. The win at The Oval owed much to Nutty Martin who took 12 for 102 on his debut - he only played one more Test. The final match at Old Trafford was washed out.
England 2 Australia 0

1891-92

So financially disastrous was the 1887-88 tour that only the intervention of Lord Sheffield, who financed this trip, allowed tours to resume. Grace, on his first visit for 18 years, led a powerful side, but in front of large crowds Australia won the opening Test after bowling England out for 158 as they chased 213. Australia staged a superb comeback at Sydney after England had taken a 162-run first-innings lead, Jack Lyons and Alec Bannerman laying the foundations and George Giffen blowing away the tourists second time round. In the final Test at Adelaide, Australia were caught on a wet wicket after England had piled up 499 and lost by an innings.
Australia 2 England 1

1893

Once again England's batting proved too strong, and once again the three-day Tests did not allow enough time. The only positive result came in the second Test at The Oval where Johnny Briggs took ten wickets and Bill Lockwood eight as Australia lost by an innings.
England 1 Australia 0 Drawn 2

1894-95

A weakened England side got the tour off to a remarkable start. At Sydney, they were 261 in arrears after the first innings before, following-on, they recovered to set Australia 177 to win - Peel took 6 for 67 as Australia lost eight wickets for 53 on a drying wicket on the final morning. After England went 2-0 up, Australia battled to level the series, and in the decider at the MCG they again too a first-innings lead, only for John Brown to hit 140 as England successfully chased 297 to win. Giffen scored 573 runs and took 34 wickets in the series.
Australia 2 England 3

The Prince: Ranji arrived in 1896 with 154* at Old Trafford and ended the summer with a record aggregate of 2780 runs © The Cricketer Enlarge

1896

Both sides were at full strength and that showed in the good standard of cricket and the huge crowds which flocked to games. With the series level going into the final Test at The Oval, England were left struggling when five players refused to play in a dispute over fees. Rain washed out most of the first day and both sides battled to come to terms with a wet pitch. Set 111 to win, Australia slid to 25 for 9 before recovering to 44 - still their lowest in England.
England 2 Australia 1

1897-98

Led by Stoddart, England were completely outclassed in all four Tests after opening the series with a win at Sydney, where KS Ranjitsinhji rose off his sickbed to score an imperious 175. Thereafter it was one-way traffic, with innings wins for Australia in the second and third Tests, and easy victories in the last two. Stoddart dropped himself for the final match. In the second Test, Ernie Jones became the first bowler to be called for throwing in a Test.
Australia 4 England 1

1899

Many regard this Australian side under Joe Darling as the finest of the Golden Age. The series opened with a draw at Trent Bridge - it was the 50-year-old Grace's last Test and the first for Wilfred Rhodes, whose Test career was to last until 1930. At Lord's, Victor Trumper and Clem Hill guided Australia to a 10-wicket win with a pair of 135s, and at Old Trafford rain again washed out an entire day. At Leeds, Archie MacLaren did not want to enforce the follow-on but under the prevalent rules, had no choice and the match was drawn (the rules were subsequently amended). The decider at The Oval again proved that three days was not nearly long enough for such games as Australia easily batted out time.
England 0 Australia 1 Drawn 4

1901-02

This was the last England side raised by a captain rather than a separate body (MCC had been asked to take over arrangements but declined) and MacLaren was further hampered by absences, especially after Yorkshire refused to allow Rhodes and George Hirst to tour. The series was much like the previous one in Australia - England won the first Test only for Australia to bounce back and win all four remaining matches. The margins were not as comprehensive as in 1897-98 but England never really recovered from the loss of SF Barnes after he had taken 19 wickets in the first two Tests. Monty Noble and Hugh Trumble shared 60 wickets in the series for Australia.
Australia 4 England 1

George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes: they didn't 'get 'em in singles' but they won a memorable match © The Cricketer Enlarge

1902

This was one of the classic series even though rain marred the summer. At Edgbaston and Lord's it was not possible to complete even the first innings of the game, but at Bramall Lane's first (and only) Test Australia won at a canter. The Old Trafford Test has gone down in folklore as Tate's Match, as it was poor Fred Tate who dropped a crucial catch and was last man out as England went down to a three-run defeat. Although the Ashes were lost, the decider at The Oval was another nail-biter. Gilbert Jessop smashed a hundred in 75 minutes and then Hirst and Rhodes, England's last pair who came together with 15 needed, "got 'em in singles" to secure a thrilling one-wicket win.
England 1 Australia 2 Drawn 2

1903-04

Originally MacLaren was supposed to raise a side, but when Barnes and Lockwood withdrew, he did likewise and so MCC took over the burden and appointed Pelham Warner to lead it. Unfortunately, Warner found himself captaining a side bereft of almost all the leading amateur batsmen. Again England started well, RE "Tip" Foster making 287 on debut as England won at Sydney, but this time they followed up with another win, and although Australia fought back, the Ashes were regained with victory in the fourth Test. The series was, however, slightly marred by crowd trouble in two of the Tests.
Australia 2 England 3

1905

After two excellent series, England were not really stretched (and were aided by winning all five tosses) and two comprehensive wins and having the better of two drawn games, while the Lord's Test was decimated by rain once again. Only one Australia batsman (Reggie Duff) scored more than 300 runs.
England 2 Australia 0 Drawn 3

1907-08

England had been scheduled to tour a year earlier, but infighting among the Australian authorities meant that the MCC toured New Zealand instead. The side that eventually toured, under AO Jones, was weak and barely representative. Jones missed the first Test and George Gunn, who was in Australia for health reasons and not to play cricket, was drafted in and made 119 although Australia won by two wickets.
Australia 4 England 1

Jack Hobbs and Archie MacLaren got out to open the innings © The Cricketer Enlarge

1909

An excellent series between two strong sides was edged by Australia who bounced back after defeat in the opening match to win at Lord's and Headingley. Old Trafford was again drawn, although Frank Laver took 8 for 31 for the tourists, and at The Oval Warren Bardsley became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a Test as Australia easily held on to retain the Ashes. In 1905 England had won all five tosses - this time Noble called correctly every time for Australia.
England 1 Australia 2 Drawn 2

1911-12

Warner led England after CB Fry declined the offer, but in the event Warner was ill and so Johnny Douglas captained in all five matches. England lost a high-scoring opening Test, with Ranji Horden taking 12 for 175. But thereafter, SF Barnes and Frank Foster took 66 wickets as England swept Australia aside to win the next four games. Jack Hobbs scored 662 runs, and the final Test marked the last appearances of Hill and Trumper.
Australia 1 England 4

1912

It is hard to find a positive about the final series before WW1. It was the coldest and wettest summer of the century, the Triangular Tournament (which also featured South Africa) was a commercial failure which failed to attract crowds, and Australia were a near shambles. Bitter squabbling between boards and players led to half a dozen major names staying at home, and in the end what amounted to an Australian 2nd XI were drubbed. Rain ruined the first two Tests, and in the decider (which was timeless) England caught Australia on a drying track and with Frank Woolley taking 10 for 49, won by 244 runs.
England 1 Australia 0 Drawn 2

1920-21

England were barely over the war when they toured Australia - the MCC had declined an invitation to visit in 1919-20 - but even so, they were utterly outclassed by a strong Australian side under Warwick Armstrong, going down to the first whitewash in a five-match series. All Tests were won by large margins, and Australia outbatted and outbowled England. Arthur Mailey took 10 for 302 at Adelaide and 9 for 121 in the first innings at Melbourne, ending the series with a then record 39 wickets.
Australia 5 England 0

1921

Lionel Tennyson captained an England side that were totally outclassed by Australia in 1921 © Getty Images Enlarge

Both teams travelled to Britain on the same boat and the series followed much the same pattern as Australia crushed all comers largely thanks to the fast bowling of Ted MacDonald and Jack Gregory. England lost the first three Tests -Johnny Douglas, who had captained for seven straight defeats was replaced by Lionel Tennyson - but ended the dire sequence with a rain-affected draw at Old Trafford in a game notable for Armstrong bowling successive overs, either side of a delay. Only in the final match at The Oval did they compete on equal terms. England fielded 30 players in the series, including 16 debutants, as the selectors panicked. Armstrong's hopes of remaining undefeated were scuppered in September when the 50-year-old Archie MacLaren, having boasted he could raise a side good enough to beat the Australians, did just that. Against Nottingham, Charlie Macartney made 345* in less than four hours, the highest by an Australian in England and the most by one batsman in a day.
England 0 Australia 3 Drawn 2

1924-25

A new era began as this was the first Test series to be covered locally on the radio, and while England travelled in hope, the outcome was rather predictable. Australia piled on the runs in the first three Tests (which all went into a seventh day) and while Jack Hobbs (573 runs at 63.66) and Herbert Sutcliffe (734 at 81.55) formed a very impressive opening partnership for England, the rest of the batsmen failed to provide enough support. At the MCG England won the toss for the only time and ended a sequence of 13 matches - and eleven-and-a-half years - without a win, although Australia bounced back at the SCG as Clarrie Grimmet grabbed 11 for 82 on debut. That it was achieved in a losing cause made Maurice Tate's 38 wickets at 23.18 even more remarkable.
Australia 4 England 1

1926

Jack Hobbs (left) and Herbert Sutcliffe's (right) legendary opening partnership was instrumental in England's success in 1926 © Getty Images Enlarge

At last England took on Australia as equals and a tense series resulted, but yet again the three-day limit for Tests made positive results all but impossible, especially when Nottingham and Manchester lost time to rain. At Lord's neither side had time to bat again, although Hobbs became the first man to pass 4000 Test runs, and at Leeds there was never a sniff of a result as both sides scored heavily. The decider at The Oval was timeless (as was always the case when the series was still up for grabs) and England replaced Arthur Carr with Percy Chapman as captain. Australia eked out a 22-run lead on first innings, and then England were caught on a rain-affected track. Hobbs (100) and Sutcliffe (161) played legendary innings (no other batsman on either side made fifty in the second innings) and a demoralised Australia were skittled for 125 chasing 415.
England 1 Australia 0 Drawn 4

1928-29

England's revival was underlined by their triumphant rout of a powerful Australia where Wally Hammond established himself - briefly - as the unchallenged best batsman in the world with 905 runs at 113.12. He was supported by Hobbs(451 at 50), Patsy Hendren (472 at 52) and Phil Mead (all four finished with more than 150 hundreds to their names). Australia's batsmen were no slouches, with Bill Ponsford, Bill Woodfull, Alan Kippax and two exiting youngsters, Don Bradman and Archie Jackson. England, however, edged the bowling. The series opener produced a record 675-run win for England (Bert Oldfield did not concede a bye in England's combined 863) as Australia were blown away for 122 (Harold Larwood 6 for 32) and 66, and they followed with another heavy victory at the SCG and a tight three-wicket win which was again down to brilliant batting on a wet wicket from Hobbs and Sutcliffe and Hammonds second successive double hundred. The fourth Test was again a nail-biter which England edged by 12 runs thanks to JC White's 8 for 126. Australia avoided a whitewash with victory in the final match. The second Test was notable as it was the only time in his career that Bradman was dropped.
Australia 1 England 4

1930

Don Bradman announced himself in 1930 with 974 runs at 139.14 © Getty Images Enlarge

The arrival of the Don. In five Tests he scored 974 runs at 139.14 - an aggregate never surpassed - and he was the difference between the two sides. His runs came quickly as well. England got off to a winning start at Trent Bridge with the ageless Hobbs leading the way and a catch by substitute Stan Copley turning the game. Bradman made 252 at Lord's as Australia piled on 729 for 6 and a six-wicket win, and he followed with 309 on the first day at Leeds, although Hammond's two hundreds ensured the game was drawn. Old Trafford again fell victim to rain, and in the timeless decider at The Oval , Australia replied to England's 405 with 695 (Bradman 232, Ponsford 110) and then Percy Hornibrook sealed the win and the Ashes with 7 for 92. For the first time in England, Tests were extended to four days. The series marked the farewell of Hobbs, who finished with a record 5410 runs.
England 1 Australia 2 Drawn 2

1932-33

The Bodyline tour of 1932-33 will go down as the most notorious in cricket history © Getty Images Enlarge

Bodyline. Possibly cricket's most famous series, almost certainly its most controversial, teetering from crisis to crisis and at one stage within hours of being called off as it reached governmental level. Douglas Jardine, England's captain, spoke openly of his dislike for Australians and his single-minded desire to regain the Ashes - and nullify Bradman - was fulfilled by reliance on the pace of Larwood and Bill Voce and a raft of class batsmen. Bradman missed the first Test after a dispute with the board and looked on as Stan McCabe made 187* in what experts rated as the best innings against Bodyline. Australia leveled the series at the MCG (Bradman's return was marked by a first-ball duck and a second-innings century) with Bill O'Reilly grabbing 10 for 129. The real trouble came at Adelaide where Woodfull was struck over the heart and Oldfield sustained a fractured skull. The capacity crowd, whose mood was enflamed by some blunt newspaper comment, came close to rioting and mounted police were on standby. Heated cables were exchanged between the ACB and MCC but in the end the tour went ahead and Jardine carried on. After the win at Adelaide, the Ashes were regained at Brisbane where Eddie Paynter rose off his hospital bed to score 86. Sadly, as England completed their win, Australia's sorrow was deepened as news filtered through that Jackson had died of TB aged 23. England wrapped-up their second successive 4-1 win in Australia at Sydney, Larwood making 98 as nightwatchman before limping out of the match, and of Test cricket. Few captains have been served so well and so loyally as Jardine was by Larwood (33 wickets at 19.51). In turn, few men have ever subsequently been treated so appallingly as Larwood was by the MCC.
Australia 1 England 4

1934

Endless meetings and secret agreements between establishment figures took place before the 1934 series started, and Jardine's decision not to lead England certainly eased the way, as did a tacit deal promising no Bodyline bowling. Larwood was injured, while Voce was overlooked, although he did create a storm by bowling Bodyline when the tourists played Nottinghamshire. O'Reilly's 11 for 129 was decisive in the opening Test, but England won their only Ashes Test at Lord's all century when Hedley Verity took 14 wickets in a day in the first Test to be televised by the BBC. A draw at Old Trafford was followed by Bradman's second successive triple hundred at Headingley, but rain saved England. The timeless decider at The Oval was dominated by Ponsford (266) and Bradman (244) who added 451 for the second wicket out of 701, and England were bowled out for 145 chasing 708! With Les Ames, sidelined by lumbago, the 50-year-old Frank Woolley kept wicket and conceded 47 byes. O'Reilly and Grimmett shared 53 wickets while Bradman chipped in with 758 runs.
England 1 Australia 2 Drawn 2

1936-37

The only time a side has come from two down to win a five-Test series. Gubby Allen led a tour designed to heal the wounds, and while they did so off the pitch, England threatened to turn party poopers with big wins in the opening matches as Bradman's captaincy career got off to a dreadful start. But inspired by a record crowd of 350,534, Australia fought back at the MCG when , on a rain-affected track, a series of bold declarations aimed at exposing the other side gave Australia the advantage. After sending in his tailenders on the improving wicket, Bradman and Jack Fingleton put on 346 for the sixth wicket en route to a rousing win. A second-innings 212 from Bradman enabled Australia to level the series at Adelaide, and the comeback was completed by an innings victory at the MCG.
Australia 3 England 2

1938

Len Hutton scored a world-record 364 in the timeless Test at The Oval © Getty Images Enlarge

The last series in England for a decade was one dominated by batsmen, aided by some pitches which offered nothing but heartbreak to bowlers, and it pitted the two batting giants - Bradman and Hammond - against each other as captains. Both sides scored heavily in the first two Tests, notable for McCabe's 232 (rated by Bradman as the finest innings he saw) and 20-year-old Denis Compton's 102 at Trent Bridge, and Bill Brown carrying his bat for 206 in Australia's first innings at Lord's. With Old Trafford washed out completely, Australia retained the Ashes with a five-wicket win in the one low-scoring match at Leeds with Bradman making a hundred for the sixth successive Test. For the fourth time in a row, The Oval was a timeless Test, and England exploited a pluperfect pitch to the full. Len Hutton batted 13 hours and 17 minutes for a record 364 as England remorselessly ground out 903 for 7. Australia, without Bradman, who had broken an ankle, and Fingleton, went down to an innings-and-579-run defeat. While England celebrated, it was confirmation that a combination of flat pitches and timelessness was not one that appealed to anyone other than statisticians. That was confirmed the following winter at Durban and there were no more.
Australia 1 England 1 Drawn 2

England Vs Australia 1920 - 1938

1946-47

Hindsight is wonderful. England toured in 1946 but were not really ready to resume battle against a strong Australia side. Attention centred on the captains. For Wally Hammond it was a tour too far and he was a shadow of his former self and by the end he was a broken man. Don Bradman started with serious doubts over his future, but by the end of the series was re-established as the world's No.1. The series started in controversy when England believed they had an out-of-sorts Bradman caught early on - he was reprieved, went on to make a big hundred, and England were routed on a rain-affected pitch. The second Test was another resounding win for Australia, and although England salvaged a draw in the third Test (the first in Australia since 1881-82 as matches were limited to six days) and the fourth, but the fifth was another convincing win for Australia even though England led after the first innings. By then, Hammond was finished and Norman Yardley was in charge. So many ifs, but had Bradman been given out at Brisbane then the pressure was such that it is quite possible he would have retired. As it was, he made 680 runs at 97.14.
Australia 3 England 0 Drawn 2

1948

Don Bradman led the invincibles to a 4-0 victory in 1948 © Wisden Cricket Monthly Enlarge

The Invincibles. The nickname for this Australian side was justified, and they crushed all opposition as Bradman led a side on what was also a grand farewell tour for him. They showed their might by racking up 721 for 9 in a day against Essex, and never looked back. Their fast-bowling attack of Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Bill Johnston was awesome, and an experimental rule allowing a new ball every 55 overs played into their hands. Only a draw at Old Trafford, where rain played a part, spared England from a whitewash, but Australia romped to resounding wins in the other four games. The match of the summer was at Headingley where Australia scored a record 404 for 3 on the final day to win, Bradman (173) and Arthur Morris (182) adding 301 in 217 minutes. The first day of the final Test saw England routed for 52 and Bradman make a duck in his final innings to finish with an average of 99.94. Denis Compton kept England 's flag flying with 562 runs at 62.44 while Australia's three pacemen shared 67 wickets.
England 0 Australia 4 Drawn 1

1950-51

England were led by Freddie Brown - a third-choice captain, and a young and inexperienced side was well beaten. The Brisbane Test was remarkable as on a rain-hit pitch, England declared on 68 for 7 and then Australia on 32 for 7 as 20 wickets fell in a day. Len Hutton made 62 in what is regarded as one of the great innings in Ashes history. Australia went on to win, and did the same in the next three Tests with Jack Iverson, a mystery spinner, proving all but unplayable. Consolation of sorts came in the final Test when Alec Bedser took 10 for 105, taking his series aggregate to 30 wickets, as England won their first Test against Australia for twelve-and-a-half years. The leading batsman and bowler were Hutton and Bedser, highlighting how poor the rest of the side, including Compton who had a wretched time, were.
Australia 4 England 1

1953

Denis Compton and Bill Edrich leave the middle after helping England win the Ashes for the first time in 19 years at The Oval in 1953 © Cricinfo Enlarge

Finally, England had something to celebrate as Coronation Year was capped by them regaining the Ashes after 19 years. It was a miserable summer, with rain and cold dogging the entire tour and consigning Old Trafford and Trent Bridge to draws. Australia would have taken a lead at Lord's were it not for a resolute rearguard from Trevor Bailey and Willie Watson on the last day, and Bailey again rescued England at Headingley, but only by bowling down the leg side off a long run as Australia chased 177 in 115 minutes. The Oval Test was extended to six days with the Ashes and the series up for grabs, England won by eight wickets after a see-saw battle. Bedser, England 's standard bearer in post-war cricket, took 39 wickets in the series at 17.48 (Lindwall was not far being with 26 at 18.84) while Hutton, England 's first professional captain, led from the front with 443 runs at 55.37.
England 1 Australia 0 Drawn 4

1954-55

England arrived on the back of a series defeat by Pakistan and with a policy of all-out pace attack, even though the young Fred Trueman was left at home and Bedser was soon laid low by illness. Even though he recovered, he was not picked and his Test career was over. Nothing went right at Brisbane as Australia made 601 for 8 and won by an innings, and Compton fractured his hand on the boundary fence. That pattern continued at Sydney where England were skittled for 154, but during their second innings Frank Tyson, a young fast bowler from Northants, was knocked unconscious by Lindwall. Fired up, he and Brian Statham blasted England to a 38-run win to level the series. Another close game was decided by Tyson (7 for 27) and Statham at the MCG, and England regained the Ashes with victory at Adelaide. The last Test was ruined by Sydney's heaviest storms in half a century, although England were again closing on an innings victory by the end.
Australia 1 England 3 Drawn 1

1956

Jim Laker walks off after taking 19 wickets in the match at Old Trafford as England retained the Ashes © Getty Images Enlarge

Jim Laker's summer. He took all ten in an innings for Surrey in the tour match against the Australians in May, grabbed a remarkable 19 for 90 in the fourth Test at Old Trafford and finished the series with 46 wickets at 9.60. If that was amazing, so were the selectors who could do no wrong, recalling the veteran Cyril Washbrook at Leeds (he made a hundred) and the one-legged Compton at The Oval (he made 94), and also summoned David Shepherd even though he had given up full-time cricket. The summer was another wet one and Nottingham was a washout, but Australia kept their awesome Lord's record intact with a 185-run victory, Miller taking 10 for 152. England levelled at Headingley where Laker and Tony Lock shared 18 wickets, and at Manchester Laker was unplayable on a wicket so dry it could have been tailor-made for him - many Australians suspected it was. Compton rescued England at The Oval and then Laker struck again as Australia finished on 27 for 5.
England 2 Australia 1 Drawn 2

1958-59

Rarely has an England side set off for Australia so confident of victory, but they returned not so much beaten as thrashed. The series was marred by persistent complaints about the actions of several Australian bowlers who the English maintained threw, and some dreadful over- and run-rates drove spectators to tears. It was hardly a great advertisement for a game which was being broadcast on national TV for the first time. Brisbane set the tone, and even though Australia won, it was unedifying stuff, with Bailey hitting the low by taking seven-and-a-half hours to make 68. Australia went two up at the MCG with the controversial Ian Meckiff taking 6 for 38 as England were bowled out for 87, and England only saved the third Test thanks to a third-wicket stand of 182 between Colin Cowdrey (100*) and Peter May (82). May inserted Australia at Adelaide, to general surprise, and ended up losing by ten wickets after being forced to follow on. England's batsmen again capitulated in the final Test to complete a wretched tour.
Australia 4 England 0 Drawn 1

1961

Richie Benaud, the Australian captain, played a crucial role as Autralia regianed the Ashes in 1961 © Getty Images Enlarge

The issue of chuckers which dominated the previous series disappeared when Australia 's selectors left them all at home, and under Richie Benaud Australia aimed to play brighter cricket. They did, and in doing so retained the Ashes. Australia went one up at Lord's (where else) in a low-scoring game, but England fought back at Headingley where Trueman took 11 for 88 and made useful runs as well. Old Trafford provided the game of the summer as England seemed set to win when Australia slid to 334 for 9, 162 ahead, on the last morning. Alan Davison and Graham McKenzie added 98 for the last wicket, but Ted Dexter made a brilliant 76 to guide England to 150 for 2 when Benaud struck, taking 5 for 12 in 25 balls as Australia snatched a 54-run victory. Rain and a peerless 181 from Peter Burge ensured The Oval was a draw.
England 1 Australia 2 Drawn 2

1962-63

England paid dearly for missed catches and their batsmen never came to terms with Davidson who took 24 wickets at 20.00 in his final series or bettered Bobby Simpson (401 runs at 44.55) or Brian Booth (404 at 50.50). The first Test swung both ways but it was England who finished holding out for a draw, and they went one up at Sydney thanks to Trueman (5 for 62) and a second-innings hundred from Shepherd,which made up for his dropped catches and a first-inings duck. Davidson (9 for 81) was the difference as Australia leveled the series with an eight-wicket win at the SCG, and Adelaide was an anticlimax as both sides were overcautious and Davidson broke down with a hamstring tear in his fourth over. The decider at the SCG was a disappointment, England crawling to 195 for 5 by the end of the first day. Australia were set a gettable 241 in four hours, but Bill Lawry dawdled his way to 45 not out to the backdrop of barracking from the Hill.
Australia 1 England 1 Drawn 3

1964

This was another Ashes series spoilt by poor weather - almost half the Nottingham Test was lost, the first two days at Lord's were washed out, and, fittingly, the last day of the summer was also abandoned. The one result came at Headingley where Peter Burge rescued Australia from 187 for 7 with 160 to set them on the way to a seven-wicket victory. Old Trafford, the perennial wet-weather victim, was dry, but many wished it had lived up to its reputation as it took almost all five days to get through the two first innings. Simpson made a 311 in 762 minutes (his maiden Test hundred) and England replied with centuries from Ken Barrington and Ted Dexter. Neil Hawke (6 for 47) bowled Australia to a first-innings lead of 197 at The Oval but England recovered to earn a draw. The match was best remembered for Trueman taking his 300th Test wicket, the first man to the milestone.
England 0 Australia 1 Drawn 4

1965-66

Once again, England took the lead and once again Australia hit straight back to draw the series and so retain the Ashes. Rain blighted the first Test and big scores dominated at Melbourne, but England roared to an innings win at the SCG where Australia were forced to follow on and had no answer to spinners on a turning pitch. Australia reversed the result at Adelaide where Simpson (225) and Lawry (119) put on 244 for the first wicket. Once again, the decider at the MCG was a disappointing stalemate but not before the usually turgid Barrington had slammed a hundred off 122 balls. Bob Cowper then ground his way to 307 in 727 minutes - the longest first-class innings in Australia . It summed up a series in which England did not possess the firepower to bowl the hosts out.
Australia 1 England 1 Drawn 3

1968

Derek Underwood traps John Inverarity lbw to claim his seventh wicket and secure a dramatic victory for England at The Oval in 1968 © Getty Images Enlarge

With the exception of Lord's, England's fielding in the series was dire and they failed to recover from a poor start which saw them beaten by 159 runs at Old Trafford. Lord's was again blighted by rain and bad light, and England surprisingly left out Basil D'Oliveira, their top scorer at Manchester, but there was time for Australia to be bowled out for 78. Edgbaston was also spoilt by the weather with the first and last day all but washed out. Two substitute captains - Keith Fletcher and John Inverarity - stood in for Cowdrey and Lawry at Leeds but England, needing to win, dropped catches and more rain meant another draw. Although the Ashes were heading back to Australia, the series could still be drawn and the final day of the Oval Test produced some of the most remarkable scenes. Set 352, Australia were 85 for 5 when a freak storm left the ground underwater. But the sun came out, dozens of spectators armed with blankets and brushes, mopped up and play somehow resumed with 75 minutes remaining. With Derek Underwood in ideal conditions, it went down to the wire but he took the seventh wicket with five minutes remaining to give England an amazing win. Earlier, the recalled D'Oliveira made 158, an innings that was to have massive ramifications when he was left out of the squad for that winter's tour of South Africa. Although he was subsequently included, that move led to the trip being cancelled and the start of South Africa 's international sporting isolation.
England 1 Australia 1 Drawn 3

  

England v Australia 1970 - 1989

1970-71

Flashpoint: Terry Jenner is struck by John Snow at the SCG © The Cricketer Enlarge

Ray Illingworth led England to a remarkable Ashes success in a series of unprecedented length and bitter exchanges. Illingworth was only chosen when Colin Cowdrey pulled out injured, but he forged a closely-knit side. The tour started badly, and Alan Ward had to be replaced by Surrey's Bob Willis before the first Test. The first two Tests were drawn, and then Melbourne was washed out, leading to a seventh Test being added at the end of the tour. To placate the crowds, a one-dayer was arranged and more than 40,000 turned up to watch Australia win the game's first ODI. England took a vital lead at Sydney where Geoff Boycott (77 and 142*) laid the platform and then John Snow (7 for 40 in the second innings) sealed a 299-run win. The fifth Test was dull and marred by poor crowd behaviour, and while the sixth, which started three days later, was also drawn with Illingworth declining to enforce the follow-on on a pitch getting easier. Australia ditched Bill Lawry, their captain and leading batsman in the series, for the decider back at Melbourne, replacing him with Ian Chappell. Australia gained an 80-run lead but Snow was warned for short-pitched bowling after striking Terry Jenner on the head and resulting crowd trouble - Snow was grabbed by a spectator and bottles and cans thrown at him - led to Illingworth taking England from the field. They returned after warnings from officials, and a doughty second-innings performance left Australia needing 223 to win and retain the Ashes. Even though Snow was out of action after breaking a finger, only Keith Stackpole mastered a crumbling pitch and England won by 62 runs.
Tests Australia 0 England 2 Drawn 4
ODI Australia 1 England 0

1972

Illingworth and Chappell locked horns again and this series was every bit as entertaining, with fortunes ebbing and flowing throughout. Snow and an allround contribution from Tony Greig gave England an 89-run win at Old Trafford, but Lord's belonged to the seam of Bob Massie. He took 8 for 84 and 8 for 53 - 16 for 137 in all - on debut to bowl Australia level and they were in charge at Nottingham before running out of time as England reached 290 for 4 chasing 451. The pitch at Headingley left Australia deeply unhappy but it suited Derek Underwood down to the ground. The authorities claimed it was affected by a fungus, fusarium, the Australians suspected skullduggery. Underwood took 10 for 82 and Australia were bowled out for 146 and 136 and an innings loss inside three days. That meant England retained the Ashes, but Australia squared the series as they won the six-day Oval Test by five wickets, and Chappells Ian and Greg became the first brothers to score Test centuries in the same innings.
Tests England 2 Australia 2 Drawn 1
ODI England 2 Australia 1

1974-75

England arrived buoyed by a good summer against India and Pakistan, and blissfully ignorant about what awaited an old side which had already shown signs of unrest before leaving home. While there were rumours about Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the former was considered unlikely to play after a serious back injury and the latter dismissed as a beach bum. Within weeks it was clear that England's batting, already weakened by the self-imposed absence of Boycott, was not equal to the task. At Brisbane, Tony Greig made a classic hundred but Thomson announced his arrival with blistering pace and 6 for 46, as well as breaking the hands of Dennis Amiss and John Edrich, in a 166-run victory. England flew out the 42-year-old Cowdrey and threw him straight into action at Perth, but gutsy though he was, he could not prevent another rout and more injuries. The third Test was in complete contrast, a tense affair with all four innings within 10 runs of each other and Australia needing eight to win with two wickets in hand at the finish. The fourth Test made headlines before it started when Mike Denness, England's out-of-form captain, dropped himself and put Edrich in charge. The outcome was no different and Australia regained the Ashes with plenty to spare. England had Australia 84 for 5 in the fifth Test, but the tail wagged and then Lillee and Thomson (who missed the second innings) ran amok. The final Test gave England some consolation, although Thomson was absent and Lillee broke down early, and led by 188 from Denness, they won by an innings. The single ODI, played between the third and fourth Tests, was poorly attended with only 18,977 at the MCG.
Tests Australia 4 England 1 Drawn 1
ODI Australia 0 England 1

1975

Vandalism stops play at Headingley © The Cricketer Enlarge

This four-match series was hastily arranged to follow the inaugural World Cup and to replace a long-since-scrapped South African visit. The opening Test seemed to herald more of the same from the previous winter, as Denness stuck Australia in, they made 359 and then the heavens opened and Lillee, Thomson and Max Walker proved devastating on a wet pitch. Denness quit, and was replaced by the popular and charismatic Greig, who made changes and instilled a new belief in his team. At Lord's it was the bespectacled and prematurely grey David Steele who epitomised the new grit. The third Test at Headingley was beautifully poised, with Australia on 220 for 3 needing 445 at the close on the fourth day. Overnight, protestors vandalised the pitch and the game had to be abandoned, although rain would have prevented play anyway. The final Test at The Oval was played over six days as the series was at stake, if not the Ashes, but it seemed it would not even reach a fifth when England followed on 341 behind after hundreds from Rick McCosker and Ian Chappell. But England batted almost 15 hours to save the game, including a valuable but painfully slow 149 from Bob Woolmer.
Tests England 0 Australia 1 Drawn 3

1976-77

A one-off Test at the MCG commemorated the first-ever Test exactly 100 years earlier. The Ashes were not at stake but this was nevertheless an epic match. By the tea on the second day few expected the game to last until tea-time on the fourth day when the Queen was scheduled to meet the teams. Australia made 128 and then bowled England out for 95. But Australia rallied, largely thanks to Rod Marsh's belligerent 110, to set England 453. David Hookes announced his arrival with five successive fours off Greig and McCosker hung around with great courage despite having his jaw shattered by Willis in the first innings. Derek Randall's 174 gave England hope but in the end Lillee, who took 11 for 165 was the difference as Australia won by 45 runs ... spookily exactly the same margin as had been the case a century earlier.
Tests Australia 1 England 0

1977

The whole summer was overshadowed by the Packer affair, news of which broke as the Australians arrived. It left the tourists a divided and unhappy side without the injured Lillee, while England, under Mike Brearley who replaced the sacked Greig, a Packer ringleader. After a rain-affected draw in the opening Test at Lord's, England went one-up at Old Trafford where Derek Underwood (6 for 66) ran through Australia's second innings despite a defiant hundred by Greg Chappell. At Trent Bridge, Boycott was recalled after a three-year absence and after running out local hero Derek Randall, he made amends with a typically dogged hundred as well as batting on all five days. England brought in Ian Botham for his debut and he made an immediate mark with a first-innings five-for, and a seven-wicket win put England two-up. Boycott again dominated at Headingley, making his 100th first-class hundred in front of his adoring home crowd in an innings win. The final Test at The Oval was marred by rain, but with World Series Cricket looming, international cricket was about to change forever. This was the first Test series in England to be sponsored.
Tests England 0 Australia 1 Drawn 3

1978-79

This series was played in direct competition to the unofficial WSC matches elsewhere in Australia and, while England lost a few regulars, Australia fielded what amounted to a third XI. The public responded to this, and emphatic defeats, by staying away in increasing numbers. Although England romped to a 5-1 win, the tour started less convincingly with some unimpressive performances, not least against South Australia when Rodney Hogg gave indications of what was to follow. He alone showed real class, and his 41 series wickets at 12.85 in a losing cause was remarkable. The opening Tests were hard fought, but Australia were not able to put enough runs on the board and lost both convincingly. Predictions of a whitewash ended when Hogg took 10 for 66 to send England to defeat at Melbourne. The series could have been squared at Sydney when Alan Hurst (5 for 28) helped Australia to a 142-run first-innings lead. But Brearley and an epic 150 from Randall tipped the balance, leaving Australia needing 205 in 265 minutes on a wearing track - they made 111. England scored a fourth win at Adelaide when Geoff Miller and Bob Taylor rescued their first innings and Australia's batting imploded, and the rout was completed with a nine-wicket win back at the SCG. It was not only the Australian players who were left traumatised. The board was wounded by poor attendances and declining interest, and it made the settlement with Packer inevitable.
Tests Australia 1 England 5 Drawn 1
ODI Australia 2 England 0

1979-80

Dennis Lillee argues with Mike Brearley over the legality of Lillee's aluminium bat © Getty Images Enlarge

This was a hastily-arranged visit aimed to bolster the Australian board who were fence-mending after settling with Packer. Unlike previous visits, this was more about ODIs than Tests - a result of the TV terms required by packer's Channel 9 - and the tour was shared with West Indies. England griped about a number of regulations for the ODIs - not least about floodlights which were new to them - and this, and the refusal to put the Ashes up for grabs in a short series, led to them being unpopular from the off. Brearley, who grew an Ayatollah-style beard and epitomised the English establishment, was the target of much of the venom. An Australian side back to full strength was too much to handle and Lillee, Len Pascoe and Geoff Dymock provided a cutting edge England never mastered. The series started with controversy and tantrums when Lillee tried to use an aluminium bat at Perth, and the second started on a sodden pitch which both captains objected to, but the authorities leant on the officials to get underway. Chappell, who won the toss, shrugged as the coin landed and admitted that whoever called correctly would win the game. He was right. But luck had nothing to do with Australia's win in the final match. The series was also notable for the remarkable number of players who made nineties - Kim Hughes (99) Boycott (99*) David Gower (98*) Greg Chappell (98*) and Graham Gooch (99), of which Gooch, run-out going for his maiden hundred, was the most unlucky. The one-day matches were forgettable, although Brearley added to the opprobrium heaped on him by posting all 10 fielders on the boundary when West Indies needed three of the final ball at the MCG.
Tests Australia 3 England 0

1980

The great and the good gathered at Lord's for the Centenary Test, but the weather spoilt what could have been a tight game. The second and third days had little play but plenty of incident, and one of the umpires was manhandled in the pavilion as tempers flared on the Saturday when the restart was delayed despite glorious sunshine. Australia had a sniff of victory when England were struggling to avoid a follow-on on the fourth morning, but once that had been avoided, it was stalemate although England could have made more effort to chase on the last day. Kim Hughes took the plaudits for glorious strokeplay when making 117 and 84.
Tests England 0 Australia 0 Drawn 1

1981

1981 ... Ian Botham ... say no more © Getty Images Enlarge

Botham's summer. That just about says it all. A remarkable series which contained quite a bit of unremarkable cricket but from the fourth day at Headingley onwards it gripped the English consciousness in a way not repeated until 2005. Australia won the opening Test at Trent Bridge amid much speculation over Ian Botham's future as captain, and after he collected a pair at Lord's he resigned (although as chief selector Alec Bedser told the media, he would have been sacked anyway). England sent for Brearley, but for the first three days at Headingley England were again on the rack and followed on. Then Botham smashed 149 not out, Bob Willis took 8 for 43 and somehow the series was level. At Edgbaston a low-scoring affair (Brearley top scored with 48) again looked to be going Australia's way until Botham grabbed 5 for 1 in 28 balls to secure a 29-run victory and set off wild celebrations. Old Trafford centred around Botham's brutal second-innings 118 was scored from only 102 balls, and despite making a valiant effort when chasing 506 to win, England took the series with a 103-run win. The drawn final game at The Oval was a rather anticlimactic end to the series. Terry Alderman and Lillee were the outstanding wicket-takers (42 and 39 wickets respectively), but Botham's allround efforts (399 runs and 34 wickets) were all the difference.
Tests England 3 Australia 1 Drawn 2
ODIs England 1 Australia 2

1982-83

England were without those players who toured South Africa the previous season, and of all of them Gooch was missed the most as a sound start eluded them almost throughout. Australia missed their two strike bowlers of 1981 - Lillee broke down in the first Test while Alderman was badly hurt trying to tackle a spectator during some ugly crowd scenes in the same match at Perth. England's hero from 18 months earlier, Botham, also had a poor summer. Australia were two-up after the third Test but England staged an unlikely comeback with a three-run win at Melbourne after Allan Border and Thomson had taken Australia to the brink. The Ashes returned to Australia when England turned down a stiff challenge of making 460 on the final day at Sydney. Geoff Lawson was the outstanding bowler of the series (34 at 20.20)
Tests Australia 2 England 1 Drawn 2

1985

Australia were an unhappy unit even before they lost three players - including Hughes and Alderman - who were axed after signing for a rebel tour of South Africa. Although most people only remember England's winning 3-1, the series could have gone either way. England took a lead with a five-wicket win at Leeds, set up by Tim Robinson's 175, but their Lord's voodoo continued as they lost there by four wickets. The third and fourth Tests were high-scoring draws which neither side looked like winning. The fifth appeared to be going much the same way when England only declared their first innings on the fourth afternoon, but by the close Richard Ellison had reduced a dumbfounded Australia to 37 for 5 and they slid to an innings loss on the final day. The series was decided at The Oval where Gooch (196) and Gower (157) batted them into submission - and another innings loss - on the first day.
Tests England 3 Australia 1 Drawn 2
ODIs England 1 Australia 2

1986-87

An England combination just about at their peak during this tour under Mike Gatting's captaincy in a high-scoring series where a few inspired bowling displays made the difference. Chris Broad scored three centuries for England while Botham blasted a rapid 138 in the first Test at the Gabba. The series was settled in the fourth Test at the MCG when Gladstone Small spearheaded an innings victory inside three days. Australia regained some respect in an exciting final Test on an SCG spinner's pitch.
Tests Australia 1 England 2 Drawn 2

1987-88

A one-off Test to celebrate Australia's bicentenary celebrations at Sydney was not for the Ashes. The match was memorable for Broad's tantrum when dismissed after a good hundred - he left the field to booing as a result of him demolishing his stumps with his bat - and an eight-hour 184 by David Boon which steered Australia to safety when they had been forced to follow-on.
Tests Australia 0 England 0 Drawn 1

1989

England were a mess but few expected Australia to inflict such a comprehensive defeat on them. Gower was appointed captain, and even then it was on the chairman's vote as Gatting was favoured by others, but from the off Australia were rampant. At Headingley they made 601 for 7 - they never scored under 400 in a first innings in any of the six Tests - and from then on it was slaughter. Geoff Marsh (442 runs) and Mark Taylor (839) were a formidable opening pair and Steve Waugh (506 at 126.50) dominated the middle order. With the ball, Alderman was back to his best with 41 wickets as if to underline how missed he had been in 1985; Neil Foster was the leading English bowler and with 12 wickets, the only one in double figures. England's selectors seemed as clueless as the team, and they used 29 different players during the series. As if things couldn't get worse, the announcement of a rebel English side to South Africa led by Gatting came during the fourth Test. England lost four matches heavily, and the two they drew they only did so with the help of the weather as they were outplayed in both of those. At Trent Bridge, Marsh and Taylor batted the whole first day on their way to an opening stand of 329. It showed a gulf between the sides that was to remain for almost a decade and a half.
Tests England 0 Australia 4 Drawn 2
ODIs England 1 Australia 1 Tied 1

England v Australia 1990 - present

1990-91

Despite an apparently strong side, England's first series of the nineties was their most shambolic - and there was some stiff competition for that miserable accolade. Like a fool and his money, England soon departed from some encouraging positions, giving as good as they got until their batting unexpectedly folded time and again. At Brisbane, a first-innings lead mutated into a ten-wicket defeat, but worse came at the MCG, where Bruce Reid wrecked them with 13 wickets. England lost six wickets for three runs, an astonishing collapse even by their standards. Reid took 27 in all in four Tests, while David Boon topscored with 530 series runs, as Australia , well led by Allan Border, took the Ashes on merit. Still, England weren't helped by the injuries to Angus Fraser, Allan Lamb and Graham Gooch; nor by David Gower and John Morris's escapade in a Tiger Moth. Gooch's humourless reaction helped England's laughing stock status soar and while they drew at Sydney and Adelaide , they nosedived again at Perth in the final Test, when Craig McDermott crushed them with 11 wickets.
Australia 3 England 0 Drawn 2

1993

Just two days in, Shane Warne's first Ashes delivery claimed Mike Gatting and a whole new fan-base. Warne, then 23, later called his wonder ball at Old Trafford a fluke, but the damage to England's already fragile psyche was done. He went on to take 34 wickets in all and with Tim May, Paul Reiffel and Merv Hughes the bowling unit was formidable; they didn't even call in a replacement when their main strike bowler Craig McDermott flew home after twisting his bowel. Hughes shouldered the extra burden with a will that Wisden said "at times came close to heroism". Then there were the batsmen - there was a century apiece for all of Australia's top seven, with David Boon making three tons, while Ian Healy chipped in behind the stumps with 26 dismissals. With the series already lost, Mike Atherton replaced Graham Gooch as captain for the fifth Test and he led a relieved England to victory in his second match, the final Test at The Oval. It was their first win against Australia in 19 Tests, but - in what was to become an all-too-familiar theme - it was too little, too late.
Australia 4 England 1

1994-95

For Australia, a new captain in Mark Taylor but the same old winning brutality and they strolled to a 3-1 victory. It was no surprise: Craig McDermott and Shane Warne led a potent bowling attack, with Warne's 8 for 71 wrapping up the Brisbane Test after Taylor, as was his wont, had declined to enforce the follow-on. Warne added a hat-trick in the second Test at Melbourne . England did win at Adelaide , much to everyone's astonishment, but Perth was a much more familiar script, a 329-run defeat. This was also Gooch and Gatting's swansong, an ignominous end to some impressive careers. They weren't helped by a catalogue of injuries, including Alec Stewart's broken finger, which deprived them of his and Mike Atherton's opening partnership for much of the series, and the psychological blow of losing the strike bowler Devon Malcolm on the eve of the first Test. Yet once again Australia were simply too strong, as were even their Academy XIs, who beat England twice in some demoralizing warm-ups.
Australia 3 England 1 Drawn 1

1997

With the series just twenty overs old, there were eight wickets in the bag - and they were England's. Were their fortunes turning at last? The pulsating four-day victory in that Test at Edgbaston, including a Nasser Hussain double-century, allowed a nation to believe. But Australia, with a superior bowling artillery and batting depth, soon turned those dreams to nightmares, bossing a rain-affected draw at Lord's and digging deep to quickly rediscover their dominance. They levelled with a big win at Old Trafford, Steve Waugh striking an heroic ton in both innings, the second of which was a one-handed century; followed up with an innings win at Headingley, and then sealed the Ashes again with another thumping triumph at Trent Bridge. Their attacking flair in those victories showed just what made Australia world beaters and although England pulled off victory in the dead rubber at The Oval, with Phil Tufnell taking 11 for 93, the series scoreline flattered to deceive.
Australia 3 England 2

1998-99

Australia continued imperious, outclassing England in every department on their way to their sixth successive series win. Losing the toss five times didn't help England , but class will out and it did. Only a last-day thunderstorm could save England from defeat at Brisbane , but they were blown away by an Australian hurricane at Perth inside three days. The Ashes were Australia 's in time for Christmas, but not without gifting England a hatful of wickets and needing Steve Waugh to rescue his side several times. Michael Slater was imperious with three second-innings centuries which set up unbeatable leads. Even the absence of Shane Warne, unavailable till the last Test, couldn't halt Australia 's charge, and Stuart MacGill proved an able deputy, backed up by the 34-year-old Colin Miller. England 's only seasonal cheer came from Dean Headley, who spearheaded an amazing 12-run win at Melbourne - and Darren Gough, with a reverse-swinging hat-trick in Sydney - but otherwise they were turkeys. Australia were handed for the first time a crystal replica of the Ashes urn, but if they had gazed into the future they mightn't have liked what was (eventually) to come.
Australia 3 England 1 Drawn 1

2001

"We can open up some old scars," threatened Steve Waugh before the series. His Australians were favourites once more, but England believed they had a chance, following four wins and a draw in their last five series. Alas, the crest of England's wave was like one lapping at the beach - Australia's force was more tidal and they swept to their seventh successive Ashes victory in 11 days. Australia very nearly secured a whitewash, the only blip on that horizon a generous declaration at Headingley and the best performance of Mark Butcher's career. Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, who shared 63 wickets in the series, and the revolutionary arrival of Adam Gilchrist as a rampaging counterattacking No. 7 - note his whirlwind 152 at Edgbaston and 90 at Lord's - did for England . The scars weren't just inflicted by Australia : injuries to the batsmen Thorpe, Hussain and Vaughan and to the left-arm spinner Giles didn't help. But one man wasn't going to let injury affect him. Well, he was Australian. Despite tearing his calf muscle at Trent Bridge, Steve Waugh came back for the fifth Test at The Oval, his final appearance on English soil, and this Waugh hero hobbled on one leg to a bloody-mindedly brilliant 157 not out.
Australia 4 England 1

2002-03

The series was lost before a ball had been bowled. A defensive Nasser Hussain chose to field at Brisbane: backfired was an understatement: Australia were 364 for 2 by the close and an ill-balanced England, already shorn of Gough and Flintoff, never recovered. By the second Test the result of the series - eight Aussie wins on the spin - was already taken for granted and attentions turned to debating if this really was the best Australian side of all time. "In full flight, Australia's cricketers were wondrous to behold," Wisden noted, although these weren't the sentiments shared by a despairing Stewart who announced this was the largest gap between the two sides he had known. An ill-tempered series was over in just 11 days, including being terrorized by Brett Lee on a Perth flyer. Two crumbs provided scant comfort - Vaughan proved cool and collected (his 633 runs earning him the Man of the Series award) a cruising victory in the fifth Test at Sydney, albeit a dead rubber. Caddick, in his final Test, took 10 wickets, and England were given a glimpse of a brighter future, however distant it may have seemed.
Australia 4 England 1

2005

After 16 years of effortless Australian dominance, England finally regained the Ashes in one of the most thrilling series of all time. At Lord's in late-July, 17 wickets tumbled on a frenzied first day, but Australia emerged triumphant with a 239-run win. Ten days later at Edgbaston, however, McGrath trod on a stray cricket ball and the course of the summer had irrevocably changed. A thrilling match ensued, in which Flintoff and Warne emerged as the two kingpin performers. England won at the last gasp, by 2 runs, and carried their momentum onto Old Trafford , where 10,000 fans were turned away on the final morning as secured a draw with their last pair at the crease. A Flintoff century at Trent Bridge put England firmly on top, but Lee and Warne refused to give up the ghost, combining superbly as England lost seven wickets in their pursuit of 129. The win, however, meant that England needed only avoid defeat at The Oval. That didn't seem entirely likely as they slumped to 126 for 5 before lunch on the final day, but Kevin Pietersen cracked a blistering maiden Test century to put the result beyond doubt. Cue scenes of jubilation across a captivated nation.
England 2 Australia 1 Drawn 2

2006-07

Eighteen months on from the glory of 2005, England's cricketers were put emphatically back in their place, as Australia's ageing greats rallied for a curtain-call that doubled as a burial shroud for their battered opponents. England were routed 5-0, the first whitewash in Ashes cricket since 1920-21, as Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath put personal seals on more than a decade of Aussie hegemony. Justin Langer and Damien Martyn called time on their careers as well, after destroying an England team shorn of the leadership of Michael Vaughan. The decisive Test was the second at Adelaide, a match that is sure to rank as one of England's most painful of all time. A double-century for Paul Collingwood and 158 from Kevin Pietersen allowed England to declare on 551 for 6, whereupon seven back-breaking wickets from Matthew Hoggard secured a slender first-innings lead of 38. A draw, at the very least, was ensured. But then England crumbled to 129 on the final morning, and as Australia danced to an incredible eight-wicket win, the fire was extinguished in the bellies of Andrew Flintoff's men.
Australia 5 England 0

2009

After a slew of retirements, it was a new-look Australian side that travelled to England hoping to defend the Ashes. Inspired by the nailbiting draw in the first Test at Cardiff, England took the edge in a see-sawing series despite scoring fewer hundreds and taking fewer wickets than their Australian counterparts. Andrew Strauss seized the momentum with a rousing 161 on the first day at Lord's before a triumphant Andrew Flintoff bowled England to their first Ashes win at HQ for 75 years to enhance his burgeoning mythical status in his final Test series. After a rain-ruined draw at Edgbaston Australia fought back in devastating fashion, as Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson tore through the England line-up to level the series with a crushing innings win. Stuart Broad swung England into a strong position in the thrilling series finale at the Oval, and after Jonathan Trott's chanceless hundred on debut Australia were set a mountainous 546. A draw would have been sufficient for the Australians to retain the urn, but in the midst of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey's partnership it seemed a record run chase was not impossible. Enter Flintoff. His perfectly-scripted run out of the Australian captain set up a series victory for England and sealed his own place in English cricket lore.
England 2 Australia 1 Drawn 2

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Source - Cricinfo