An English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1882–83. Captained by Ivo Bligh, the team was on a quest "to recover those Ashes", a reference to the famous RIP notice that was published in the aftermath of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's defeat by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named 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 sinc ...

in the previous English season. Originally, three matches were arranged between Bligh's XI and a Combined Australia XI. Bligh's XI won two of these after losing the first. Although the actual sequence of events has never been completely confirmed, it was after winning the third match that Bligh was somehow presented with a small urn which is believed to contain the ashes of a burnt bail. He brought this back to England and it is now the most famous exhibit in the museum at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. England and Australia have been contesting these mythical Ashes ever since. A. fourth match was arranged ''ad hoc'' after the original series had been completed, and was won by the Australians. Following publication of Clarence P. Moody's proposed

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

list in 1894, all four matches were retrospectively recognised as Test matches.

Test matches

These matches were not called

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

at the time but they were retrospectively recognised after they were included in ''Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94'' (1894) by Clarence P. Moody. The original title of each match was Combined Australia XI v I. F. W. Bligh's XI.

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Players

England was captained by Ivo Bligh and had Edward Tylecote as its specialist wicket-keeper, the other players being Billy Bates, Dick Barlow, A. G. Steel, Charles Leslie, Walter Read, Charles Studd,

Fred Morley Frederick Morley (16 December 1850 – 28 September 1884) was a professional cricketer who was reckoned to be the fastest bowler in England during his prime, and some consider him to be the greatest fast bowler ever. During a 13-year career ...

, Billy Barnes, George Vernon and George Studd. Australia was captained by Billy Murdoch and had

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 ...

as wicket-keeper. Other players to represent Australia were Billy Midwinter, Alec Bannerman, George Bonnor,

Tom Horan Thomas Patrick Horan (8 March 1854 – 16 April 1916) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria and Australia national cricket team, Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name ...

, Percy McDonnell, George Giffen, Harry Boyle, Edwin Evans, Hugh Massie, Eugene Palmer, Tom Garrett and Fred Spofforth.

Ceylon

The team used

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

as a stopover during its long sea voyage and played two matches against local sides in October 1882 that were not first-class. This was the first time that an overseas team visited

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Other matches in Australia

Besides the four against Combined Australia, Bligh's XI played in fourteen matches against colonial and club teams. Some of these were scheduled for two days' play, others for three days.

References

External sources

CricketArchive tour itinerary