The 1882 Australia v England series was at the time considered to be part of another

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

tour of England, by a combined team from the Australian colonies, but the match arranged between the Australians and an England side was later accepted to be a

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

. Although it was not known at the time, the one-off match played at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

in south London would become the birth of

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

. The English side had lost the previous tour to Australia, but had remained undefeated at home by visiting Australian sides. Australian victory for the first time in England was widely condemned in the English press, including the publication of a satirical obituary which stated that ''English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia''. The English media then dubbed the next English tour to Australia in 1882–83 as ''the quest to regain The Ashes''. Despite the Australia v England match later receiving Test status, and being the match that triggered the birth of

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

, the 1882 match is ''not'' considered to be part of

since it precedes the introduction of the trophy.

Squads

Test series

Only Test

Day one

Billy Murdoch William Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian national side in 16 Test matches between 1880 and 1890. This included four tours of England, one of which, in 1882, gave ri ...

won the toss for Australia and chose to bat first. The decision proved a poor one though, as Australia were easily skittled out for a meagre 63 in 80 overs, taking just over 2 hours. The captain himself tried to offer resistance with a slow defensive 13, and experienced wicket-keeper/batsman

Jack Blackham John McCarthy Blackham (11 May 1854 – 28 December 1932) was a Test cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. A specialist wicket-keeper, Blackham played in the first Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the fa ...

top-scored with 17, but the only other batsman to reach double-figures was

Tom Garrett Thomas William Garrett (26 July 1858 – 6 August 1943) was an early Australian Test cricketer and, later, a distinguished public servant. Early life Tom Garrett was the second son of a newspaper proprietor and politician who bore the same n ...

with 10. Inspired bowling from opening bowler

Ted Peate Edmund Peate (2 March 1855 – 11 March 1900) was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the English cricket team. Overview Born on 2 March 1855 in Holbeck near Leeds in Yorkshire, Peate's career, whi ...

who took 4 for 31, and

Dick Barlow Richard Gorton Barlow (28 May 1851 – 31 July 1919) was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. Barlow is best remembered for his batting partnership with A N Hornby, which was immortalised in nostalgic poetry by Francis Thompson. He ...

who produced a devastating 5 for 19, ripped the Australian batting order apart on a greenish wicket that gave more assistance that it first seemed. England began their run chase with openers

and

WG Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

, but 'The Doctor' was unable to reproduce his usual heroics, clean bowled by the express pace of

Fred Spofforth Frederick Robert Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the fi ...

for 4. A steady succession of wickets followed with only

George Ulyett George Ulyett (21 October 1851 – 18 June 1898) was an English cricketer, noted particularly for his very aggressive batsmanship. A well-liked man (who, in later years, kept a pub in his native Sheffield), Ulyett was popularly known as "Happy ...

(26 off 59 balls) and

Maurice Read John Maurice Read (9 February 1859 – 17 February 1929 in Winchester, Hampshire) was an English professional cricketer. Harry Altham wrote of him in ''A History of Cricket'', "Maurice Read had been recognised as a dashing player up to Test ma ...

(19 off 54 balls) providing any real resistance as Spofforth's pure pace provided too much firepower for the England line-up to deal with. He collected 7 for 46 off 36.3 overs including an astonishing 18 maidens. Four of his seven dismissals were clean bowled. Despite Spofforth's excellent bowling, England had established a first-innings lead of 38, being all out for 101. Stumps were called at the end of England's first innings.

Day two

The second day began with Australia beginning their second innings. The opening pair of

Alick Bannerman Alexander (usually "Alick"; also "Alec") Chalmers Bannerman (21 March 1854 – 19 September 1924) was an Australian cricketer who played in 28 Test matches between 1879 and 1893. Bannerman made his Test debut at Melbourne in 1879, joining brot ...

and

Hugh Massie Hugh Hamon Massie (11 April 1854 – 12 October 1938) was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. Massie's role in the 1882 Ashes Test at The Oval was almost as pivotal in deciding the result as Fred Spofforth's celebrat ...

fared much better than in the first innings, putting on 66 for the first wicket – more than the whole team's total in the first innings. The loss of Massie triggered a mini-collapse with Australia losing 4 for 13 over the next few overs before captain

added a much-needed 29, but the last four wickets then fell for eight runs. Bannerman was top scorer with a well made 55, and Australia were all out for 122 in 63 overs, an overall lead of 84. The Australians were greatly demoralised by the manner of their second-innings collapse, but fast bowler

, spurred on by some gamesmanship on the part of his opponents, refused to give in. "This thing can be done," he declared. Already on a high from his career best 7 for 46 in the first innings, he set about the destruction of England in the second. England had reached 15 when Spofforth clean bowled England captain Albert Hornby for 9. He removed

also clean bowled the very next ball to find himself on a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

W G Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equa ...

and

then put together a partnership of 36 before Spofforth had Ulyett caught behind for 11. Grace fell two runs later, caught by Bannerman off the bowling of Harry Boyle for 32. England were stuttering at 53 for 4, still needing 31 more for victory. A sluggish 12 off 55 balls from wicket-keeper

Alfred Lyttelton Alfred Lyttelton KC (7 February 1857 – 5 July 1913) was a British politician and sportsman from the Lyttelton family who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports ...

took England on to 66 for 5, but he then had his middle-stump dramatically uprooted by Spofforth. Steel was caught and bowled by Spofforth for a third-ball duck, and Read was clean bowled for a second-ball duck in the same over. When Lucas was likewise bowled by Spofforth for 5, England were 75 for 8, needing just 10 more runs for victory, but with just two wickets remaining. The tension was unbearable; contemporary accounts famously report that one spectator dropped dead and another gnawed through the handle of his umbrella. The very next over from the other end, Harry Boyle removed Barnes for 2 and then, with the last ball of his over, clean bowled

for 2 to have England all out for 77 off exactly 55 overs. England's innings had lasted a mere 122 minutes, destroyed by the pace of Spofforth, who bettered his first innings career best by two runs, collecting 7 for 44, to give him match figures of 14 for 90, both of which would remain his finest figures. Spofforth's performance included a burst of four wickets for only two runs to leave England just seven runs short of victory in one of the closest and most nail-biting finishes in the

history of cricket The sport of cricket has a known history beginning in the late 16th century. Having originated in south-east England, it became an established sport in the country in the 18th century and developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries. Inte ...

. At first the crowd fell deathly silent, unable to fathom how England had collapsed so dramatically. Then as the fine bowling display sank in, they rushed onto the field to congratulate Spofforth and Boyle for their remarkable achievement.

Post match

England's astonishing collapse had shocked the English public, and the press savaged the players. It was the first time England had been beaten in England. On 31 August, in the great Charles Alcock-edited magazine ''Cricket: A Weekly Record of The Game'', there appeared a now-obscure mock obituary: :''SACRED TO THE MEMORY'' :''OF'' :''ENGLAND'S SUPREMACY IN THE'' :''CRICKET-FIELD'' :''WHICH EXPIRED'' :''ON THE 29TH DAY OF AUGUST, AT THE OVAL'' :---- :''"ITS END WAS PEATE"'' :---- Two days later, on 2 September, a second, more celebrated mock obituary, written by Reginald Brooks under the pseudonym "Bloobs", appeared in ''

The Sporting Times ''The Sporting Times'' (founded 1865, ceased publication 1932) was a weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing. It was informally known as ''The Pink 'Un'', as it was printed on salmon-coloured pape ...

''. It read as follows: :''In Affectionate Remembrance'' :''of'' :''ENGLISH CRICKET,'' :''which died at the Oval'' :''on'' :''29 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.''

Ivo Bligh Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

fastened onto this notice and promised that, on the tour to Australia in 1882–83 (which he was to captain), he would regain "those ashes". He spoke of them again several times over the course of the tour, and the Australian media quickly caught on. The three-match series resulted in a two-one win to England, notwithstanding a fourth match, won by the Australians, whose status remains a matter of ardent dispute. In the twenty years following Bligh's campaign, the term "The Ashes" largely disappeared from public use. There is no indication that this was the accepted name for the series—at least not in England. The term became popular again in Australia first, when

George Giffen George Giffen (27 March 1859 – 29 November 1927) was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia ...

, in his memoirs (''With Bat and Ball'', 1899), used the term as if it were well known.Gibson, A., ''Cricket Captains of England'', p. 26. The true and global revitalisation of interest in the concept dates from 1903, when

Pelham Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in ...

took a team to Australia with the promise that he would regain "the ashes". As had been the case on Bligh's tour twenty years before, the Australian media latched fervently onto the term, and, this time, it stuck.

Records

Individual records

Team records

References

External links

{{International cricket tours of England 1882 in Australian cricket 1882 in English cricket

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...

English cricket seasons in the 19th century International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888