Quote:

It is a tiny little bottle in which the ashes of some of the original equipment were placed.



To be precise, the actual "ashes" are thought to be that of a bail (for the americans, that's one of the two little wooden rods that sit on top of the three vertical wooden sticks that the bowler aims at) in a terracotta urn. They came about because of a satirical obituary for "the death of English Cricket" published in "The Sporting Times" in 1882, when Australia beat England for the first time. The obituary went on to say that "the body" was to be cremated and sent to Australia. "The Ashes" were presented to the captain of the English team by a group of Melbourne women, and reside at the MCC museum at Lords due to their age and fragility.

Matt Electronic mods for TBA/SM!