Even if you’re the most fleeting type of Australian cricket fan, you’ll know the legendary story of how the Ashes series came to be, but it’s well worth recapping.
The most famous rivalry in cricket was ignited on the hallowed turf of the Oval way back in 1882, when a touring Australian side managed to inflict their first defeat of the revered English team in their own backyard. Such was the disbelief and consequent uproar in the aftermath of the upset that now-defunct British newspaper The Sporting Times decided to publish a mock obituary in its famously pink pages, 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.”
Prior to the return series in Australia, English captain Ivo Bligh confidently stated that he and his team would ‘regain those ashes’, with the British media catching on to the phrase, referring to the Australian Tests as a mission to win back the ashes.
When England triumphed, a tiny urn said to contain the actual ashes of cricket bails was presented to Mr Bligh, and that miniscule receptacle is now fought over by both nations at least once every four years. The five-Test series is hosted alternately between Australia and England, with the forthcoming one taking place at the latter – and you could be there with Motive Travel.
The first ball of the Ashes Tour 2015 will be bowled in Cardiff, with the second Test taking place at perhaps the most famous ground of them all, Lord’s. If you plan to travel to the Ashes in 2015 to watch the Baggy Greens in action, there’s no better way than with Motive Travel.
That’s because you can join up with former Australian captain and all-round cricketing hero Kim Hughes as our boys take on the might of England in Cardiff, spending three days in the Welsh capital before heading off to ‘the home of cricket’ to soak in three more riveting days of sporting excellence. That’s not the end of it – you’ll be invited to take a tour of Lord’s, including a visit to its historic museum.
Howzat?
