Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When was the Ashes series first played?
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The Ashes are regarded as being held by the team that most recently won the Test series. If the test series is drawn, the team that currently holds the Ashes retains the trophy. 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 Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".[1] The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes.
Heralded in 1931, the first women's Test series between England and Australia—the first women's Test series anywhere—was played in 1934–35. At that time, according to the English captain, Betty Archdale, women played only "for love of the game" and did not wish to be associated with the male concepts of Tests and Ashes. The contest was not officially designated "the Women's Ashes" until the 1998 series, when an autographed bat was burned before the first Test at Lord's, some ashes then being placed inside a hollowed-out wooden cricket ball replica to manufacture a trophy. In 2013, a new Women's Ashes trophy was produced.
Australia has won more Ashes Tests than England, winning 134 of the 330 matches, compared to England's 106 victories. Australia also holds the edge in Ashes series won, having won on 33 occasions compared to England's 32. There have been five drawn series, and on four of these occasions, Australia has retained the Ashes due to being holders going into the series. England has retained the Ashes after a drawn series once. On only three occasions has a team won all the Tests in an Ashes series; Australia won all five matches in 1920–21, then repeated the feat in 2006–07 and in 2013–14. England's largest winning margin in an Ashes series was in 1978–79, when it won 5–1. Both England and Australia have held the Ashes for eight series in a row, England doing so between 1882–83 and 1890, while Australia achieved the feat from 1989 to 2002–03. Since 1882, a small number of Test series have been played between the two sides that have not been allocated as Ashes series; those played in 1976–77, 1979–80, 1980 and 1987–88, these series are not listed in the table below.
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 series. The five Tests of the series were played at Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. In winning, Australia completed a 5–0 "whitewash", the first time this had happened in an Ashes series since 1920–21. The series was also notable for the retirement of four significant Australian players, namely Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
Despite being colour blind and short sighted, he maintained a first-class average of nearly 50, yet he did not play for the Australia national cricket team until the age of 30, when he was selected for a single Test match in 2008. He was recalled to the Australia national team for the 2013 Ashes series, aged 35, and over the following two years played a further 24 Tests opening the batting for Australia before retiring after the 2015 Ashes series.
England won the 1890 Ashes Series 2–0, with the third match of the series being the first Test match to be abandoned. England lost 2–1 in the 1891–92 series, although England regained the urn the following year. England again won the 1894–95 series, winning 3–2 under the leadership of Andrew Stoddart. In 1895–96 England played Test South Africa, winning all Tests in the series. The 1899 Ashes series was the first tour where the MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee. There were three active players: Lord Hawke, W. G. Grace and Herbert Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played. England lost the 1899 Ashes series 1–0, with WG Grace making his final Test appearance in the first match of the series.
The 1970–71 Ashes series consisted of seven cricket Test matches, each of five days with six hours play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1970–71 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Ray Illingworth's England team beat Bill Lawry's Australians 2–0 and regained the Ashes, the only full Test series in Australia in which the home team failed to win a Test. "The Momentous Series of 1970–71" was pivotal in cricket history and "essentially ushered in the modern period of Test cricket". It was the first Test series to have more than five Tests and the first One Day International in cricket history was played in Melbourne; like the first test match in history it was won by Australia.
The Lions next traveled to Australia to contest The Ashes series. The Ashes series attracted 103,419 fans across the three tests, including the first ever Ashes test played in Melbourne. This was the largest Ashes attendance in Australia since 133,791 had attended the 1974 Ashes series and easily eclipsed the 66,792 of 1979, the 75,480 of 1984 and the 67,554 who attended the 1988 series.
The First Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham from 10 to 15 June with a rest day on 13 June. Australia won the match by eight wickets to take a 1–0 series lead.
A CD soundtrack, "Ashes to Ashes (Original Soundtrack)", from the first series of the show was released on 17 March 2008. A CD soundtrack, "Ashes to Ashes – Series 2 (Original Soundtrack)", from the second series of the show was released on 20 April 2009. A CD soundtrack, "Ashes to Ashes – Series 3 (Original Soundtrack)", from the third series of the show was released on 12 April 2010.
The Third Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between teams representing Australia and England. The match was played at Old Trafford in Manchester from 8–13 July, with a rest day on 11 July. The match was drawn after the whole of the fourth day and the first half of the fifth day was washed out due to rain; England had the upper hand before the weather intervened. The draw maintained Australia's 2–0 lead in the series, which was established through victories in the first two Tests. As Australia were the holders of The Ashes, the draw meant that England could do no better than level the series 2–2 by winning the last two Tests, and thus Australia retained The Ashes.
After the series, Davies was selected along with Prior as a keeper in England's squad for the 2010–11 Ashes series in Australia, although he was not required to play as England retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory. In the one-day games that followed, he played in two Twenty20s before scoring 42 in the first ODI. However, when the squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced before the second ODI, Davies was left out in favour of Prior, who then joined up with the ODI side despite not originally being selected in the squad.
The final Test was drawn. On the fourth day no play was possible due to rain, but on the final day after an aggressive Australian declaration, England came close to achieving its first 4–0 victory in an Ashes series. Play was abandoned, owing to bad light, denying a thrilling finish to the large crowd of spectators. There was media criticism of the new ICC rules requiring umpires to stop play when failing light was measured at a specified level.[51]
Having appeared with her sister Debbie in the 1978 British slapstick comedy "Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse"; her first major film role was playing the romantic lead in "Quadrophenia" in 1979. In 1980, Ash appeared in the Iron Maiden music video, "Women in Uniform". In 1982 Ash played the role of a fast food chef in the fifth series of Shelley (TV series) entitled "When the Chip hits the Fan". In 1983, she played Julie Morgan, "alias" Juletta Shane, in "Curse of the Pink Panther". In 1983, she also appeared opposite Nicky Henson as Nancy in the ITV situation comedy "The Happy Apple" playing a secretary whose opinions successfully reflected public opinion. She then played a regular role in crime series "C.A.T.S. Eyes."
The 1975 English cricket season was the 76th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. The inaugural Cricket World Cup was won by West Indies, who defeated Australia in an exciting final. Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes and won the series 1-0. Leicestershire won their first County Championship title. England played a four-Test Ashes series against Australia but lost the first at Edgbaston following Mike Denness's surprising decision to put Australia in. The other three were drawn, the one at Headingley being abandoned in controversial circumstances when the pitch was destroyed overnight by political protestors. Australia therefore retained the Ashes.
Langley was mentioned in the first episode of the TV series "Ashes to Ashes", in February 2008, when DI Alex Drake, played by Keeley Hawes mentions Langley, Virginia, most famous as home to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. Her colleague, DC Chris Skelton, remarkes "isn't that near Macclesfield?". Skelton is played by Macclesfield-born actor Marshall Lancaster.
The 2010–11 Ashes series (known as the Vodafone Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the country during the 2010–11 season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011. England won the series 3–1 and retained the Ashes, having won the previous series in 2009 by two Tests to one. As of 2018, it is the last time that the visiting side has won the Ashes.
Although the first Test series played between England and Australia was in the 1876–77 season, the Ashes originated from the solitary Test which the two nations contested in 1882. England lost the match, played at The Oval, and a mock obituary was posted in "The Sporting Times", declaring the death of English cricket. It stated that: "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." The Honourable Ivo Bligh adopted the term and, as captain of the English party that travelled to Australia the following winter, promised to bring the "Ashes" home.
The 2015 Ashes (named Investec Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes. The venues were Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Lord's (London), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Trent Bridge (Nottingham), and The Oval (London). Australia were the defending holders of the Ashes going into the series, having won in 2013–14. England won the series 3–2, regaining the Ashes after taking an unassailable lead with victory in the fourth Test.
Allan Border's tourists became the first Australian side to win an Ashes series in England since Ian Chappell's tourists won the 1975 Ashes series in England. In doing so they became the first Australian side to regain the Ashes in England since Bill Woodfull's side did so in the 1934 Ashes series.
Sayers was included in an Australia A squad touring England in the 2013 season before the 2013 Ashes series. This was his first opportunity to play on the international scene, and during the tour he took 11 wickets at an average of 11.54, leading his South Australian coach Darren Berry to say he was a front-runner to play in the Ashes. He did not play in the 2013 Ashes in England, and though he was one of a number of pace bowlers in consideration to play in the 2013–14 Ashes series in Australia which he also did not play in. Instead of making his Test debut, he played in the 2013–14 Sheffield Shield season, taking 36 wickets. In 2014, he continued to play for Australia A, and impressed enough to be on track for national selection with a five-wicket haul against India A.
England beat Australia by an innings and 93 runs to give them a 1–0 lead in the series. It was the first time that Australia had lost by an innings at home since the Second Test of the 1936–37 Ashes series when they lost by an innings and 22 runs. It was their biggest defeat at home since the Fourth Test of the 1911–12 Ashes series when they lost by an innings and 225 runs (though they had lost the First Test of the 1928–29 Ashes series by 675 runs).
The 1974–75 Ashes series consisted of six cricket Test matches, each match lasted five days with six hours of play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1974–75 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Ian Chappell's Australians won the series 4–1 and "brutally and unceremoniously wrenched the Ashes" from Mike Denness's England team. It was Australia's first series victory over England for ten years and the experience proved popular as 777,563 spectators came through the gates and paid nearly a million Australian dollars for the privilege. For the first time the first day of the Third Test at Melbourne was held on Boxing Day in an Ashes series, now a cricketing tradition.
Australia hosted England in the 2006-07 Ashes series and regained the Ashes, beating England 5–0, only the second 5–0 series whitewash in Ashes history (the first time was by the Australian team during the 1920–1921 Ashes Series, and the later 2013–14 Ashes series). Having taken a break from cricket since April 2006, McGrath used the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy to reclaim his spot in Australia's Test XI. He took a six-wicket haul in his comeback innings in the first test at the Gabba to set the tone for the rest of the series, with Australia winning back the Ashes in a record-breaking 15 days of play. McGrath took 21 wickets in the series at an average of 23.90, and scored 10 runs and took a catch in what would be his final test series.
Beginning with a century at Headingley in his First Test against England, Taylor amassed 839 runs at 83.90 in the six Tests: the second best aggregate in an Ashes series in England, behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. He occupied the crease for a total of 38 hours, more than six full days of play. The highlight of his tour was the Fifth Test at Trent Bridge when he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat throughout a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Taylor made 219 in a partnership of 329, an Ashes record. He finished with 71 and 48 in the Sixth Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third-highest series aggregate in Test history and totalled 1,669 first-class runs for the tour. Australia won the series 4–0 to regain the Ashes. However, Taylor was overlooked for selection in the ODIs.