Feral - point of order, please
- there are 5 games of 5 days. (Unless you cocky Aussies just assume it'll all be decided after the first 3 games
)
A bit of history on the origin of The Ashes if anyone's interested:
"The phrase ‘Ashes’ came into being after a spoof obituary was published in an English newspaper (The Sporting Times) in 1882 following the match at The Oval, in which Australia beat England in England for the first time. The article stated that English cricket had died, and “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australiaâ€Â.
The English media hyped the subsequent tour to Australia in 1882-83 as the quest to regain The Ashes of English Cricket. The Ashes Urn was then presented to the English captain Ivo Bligh - who later became the Earl of Darnley - during the 1882-83 tour as a personal memento by a group of Australian ladies, including Miss Florence Morphy. Ivo and Florence’s romance blossomed and they were married in 1884.
The Ashes Urn, which was never intended to be a trophy, remained with them as a reminder of their courtship. When Lord Darnley died in 1927, his widow bequeathed the Urn to MCC; it has been looked after at Lord’s ever since."
