By Roger Childs

Cricket’s greatest contest

In the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921, Head dismantled the England attack with the second-fastest Ashes hundred of all time, made off only 69 balls. –Stephen Shemitt, BBC Sport, 22 November 2025

The Aussies love their cricket, and test matches in particular. They pack the grounds especially when they are playing the old enemy, England. On Boxing Day when the third test is in Victoria, there will be over 90.000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

England meekly surrendered in the first test of the current Ashes series, played in Perth. They could have won the match, but a dramatic collapses in the second innings left the home side just 205 to win in their second knock. 

Not many runs in cricketing terms, but 33 more that the highest total in the other three innings. The hero turned out to be novice opener Travis Head, who scored 123 off 83 deliveries by being confident and selective. Helped by Marnus Labuschagne who made 51 not out, the Australians won the match by 8 wickets with three days! to spare.

Winning the 19th century trophy

You could hide the Ashes trophy in two hands as this is probably the smallest piece of international sports silverware in the world, and compared with the America’s Cup and the World Rugby Cup it is tiny.

So how did the concept of “The Ashes” originate? Well it goes back to a famous match between the two long-term cricketing rivals in London in the early 1880s.

The death of English cricket

The 1882 Australian victory over the English was regarded as a national disaster in the “old country”.

 England should have won the match and needed only 85 runs in their second innings. But fast bowler FW Spofforth, who had taken 7 wickets in the first innings took another seven the second time around to leave the English 8 runs short.

 The Sporting Times made its judgment calling the defeat by the colonials from the other side of the world as the “death of English cricket”. Young journalist Reginald Brooks wrote a mock obituary with the punch line that The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.

This creative interpretation captured the public imagination, and the English team under Ivo Bligh (later Lord Darnley), went to Australia later that year to “recover the ashes”. After their 2-1 victory in the series a group of Melbourne women presented Captain Bligh with an urn containing ashes. 

After Lord Darnley’s death in 1927, his Australian-born widow, Florence gave the urn to the MCC to put in their museum at the Lords cricket ground. The trophy has been regularly played for since, usually in a five test series. See this post for more.

Second Ashes test coming up 

The action now moves to Brisbane and the Gabba Cricket Ground in the suburb of Woolloongabba will be packed on the first day – Thursday 4 December.