The Ashes

:For more coverage of cricket, see the .

The Ashes urn

After the third game of the 1882/83 tour, the English team, led by Ivo Bligh were guests of Sir William Clarke, at his property "Rupertswood" at Sunbury, Victoria. A group of Victorian ladies headed by Lady Clarke burned what has variously been called a ball, bail or veil {{ref|Terminology}}, and presented the resulting ashes to Bligh in an urn together with a velvet bag, which was made by Mrs Ann Fletcher, the daughter of Joseph Hines Clarke and Marion Wright, both of Dublin. She said, "What better way than to actually present the English captain with the very 'object' — albeit mythical — he had come to Australia to retrieve?" Bligh later married another of these Melbournian ladies, Florence Morphy. When he died in 1927, his widow presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club. The urn itself is made of terracotta and is about four inches (10 cm) tall.

Related Topics:
Ivo Bligh - Sunbury, Victoria - Victoria - Urn - Dublin - Melbournian - 1927 - Marylebone Cricket Club - Terracotta - Inch - Cm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A poem was presented to Bligh with the urn and appears on it {{ref|poem}}:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

Related Topics:
Studds - Steel - Read - Tylecote

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:The welkin will ring loud,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:The great crowd will feel proud,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

Related Topics:
Barlow - Bates

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And the rest coming home with the urn.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Ashes urn itself is never physically awarded to either England or Australia, but is kept permanently in the MCC Cricket Museum at Lord's Cricket Ground, where it can be seen together with a specially-made red and gold velvet bag and the scorecard of the 1882 match.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The urn has been back to Australia once, in 1988 for a museum tour as part of Australia's Bicentennial celebrations. In the 1990s, given Australia's long dominance of the Ashes series, the idea was mooted (mostly by Australians) that the victorious team in an Ashes series should be awarded the urn as a trophy and allowed to retain it until the next series. The MCC, considering the urn too fragile to transport to Australia, instead commissioned a Waterford Crystal larger-scale replica trophy which is now awarded to the winning team.

Related Topics:
1988 - Bicentennial - 1990s - Waterford Crystal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2002, Bligh's great-great-grandson (Lord Clifton, the heir-apparent to the Earldom of Darnley) argued that the Ashes urn should not be returned to Australia as it was essentially the property of his family and only given to the MCC for safe-keeping.

Related Topics:
2002 - Earldom of Darnley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~