The British Psyche and the Ashes

This is an obituary that appeared in the Sporting Times, an English newspaper on 2nd sept, 1882. Interesting as it appears, it was responsible for the test cricket series between England and Australia being named,...... The Ashes.

What i find more noteworthy here, though, is the tremendous capacity of the English to mock at themselves. I cannot dream of such an article appearing in any Indian Newspaper.

The above mentioned obituary was reported after England lost the deciding test of the series by a mere 7 runs. It was the 9th series between the 2 countries and the defeat heralded the first defeat of England at the hands of Australia, in England. Archives of the test say that the spectators went into a state of shock when the last English batsman got bowled after making just 2 runs. When he had come in to bat, England needed just 9 runs to win the match and the series. Mind you, England had not lost to Australia before and an English win was the order of the day.
the spectators went numb but recovered slowly to give the victorious Australian team, a standing ovation. A very impressive and sporty gesture, given the magnitude of the loss for the English

It all started with an friendly argument in my house over what comprises the ashes. I was stubbornly set on the bails while my friend was backing the stump. As my reading brings to light, the contents of the ashes urn is still a mystery. The contenders currently are, bails ( i'm still in), stumps( you're in too Ashish) and the outer skin of the used ball. Another source suggests it to be the ashes from a burnt veil, which is very weird. To droll on, the urn made its first appearance after England won the 3rd test of the series, the following year. the urn is preserved permanently in the MCC museum and is not awarded to the winners each year, as maybe wrongly assumed.