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September 14, 2005
FYI
So, recently Australia lost The Ashes. 'The Ashes', for those not living in Australia or England, is a cricket contect between Australia and England and the Aussies that happens every 18 months.
But it has been in the news constantly for the last few days and it has prompeted me to ask, well, what the heck are 'The Ashes'? Wikipedia to the rescue:
The series is named after a satirical obituary published in The Sporting Times in 1882 following the match at The Oval in which Australia beat England in England for the first time. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The English media dubbed the next English tour to Australia as the quest to regain The Ashes. A small terracotta urn was presented to the England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women after England's victory in the Test series. The urn is reputed to contain a set of burnt bails symbolising "the ashes of English cricket". While the urn has come to symbolise the Ashes series, the name The Ashes predates the existence of the urn. The urn is not used as the trophy for the Ashes series, and whichever side "holds" the Ashes, the urn remains in the MCC Museum at Lord's. Since the 1998/99 Ashes series, a Waterford crystal trophy has been presented to the winners.(Just in case you don't know what 'bails' are)
There you have it, I hope you feel better.
-gg
Posted by gadgetgirl at September 14, 2005 07:10 AM
Comments
heh - I actually looked up The Ashes on wikipedia after reading the story the other day. I am more familiar with wickets, bails, and such due to my gleeful participation in the Cult of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Posted by: Matt C at September 14, 2005 09:16 AM
See, if you had read Douglas Adams' "Life, The Universe And Everything", or heard the recent BBC radio adaptation of the novel, you would have known all this already. I'm just sayin'.
Posted by: jima at September 14, 2005 12:34 PM
That's funny, I just brought home 'Dirk Gently', maybe it should have picked up 'Life' instead.....I forget about all of the English references, they don't pop out as much to me now because of where I live.
Posted by: gadgetgirl at September 14, 2005 05:37 PM