[Black Wolf]

Only a few days left til the first test - anyone want to go out on a limb and back England? A home series and a team that's coming out of a slump has given them the best chance in years to actually do some damage to the Aussie hold on 'em.

If the One dayers are anything to go by, it should at least be a slightly more interesting competition than it has been for quite some time.

[Taristin]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Admiral LSD]

It's a cricket game, played between England and Australia for the past hundred years or so. The "Ashes" refer to what the winning side gets for their trouble: the ashes of a set of wickets from way back then, or something...

[pyro-manic]

The Ashes are the ashes of a set of stumps from Lords (IIRC) that were burned by the Aussies to symbolize the death of English cricket after they beat them rather badly. The two teams play for the urn every year, and England hasn't won since the mid '80s.

[Admiral LSD]

I knew it was something like that, I just wasn't 100% sure as I've never done an in-depth historical study of the event, what I know about it is pieced together from what I hear about the place.

[aldo_14]

I couldn't give a monekys about cricket, myself - being a Scot.

Incidentally, the name comes from a game the English played against the uppity ozzie colony way back; the wickets were burnt to represent the 'death' of english cricket, and the little urn holding them's the trophy.

[Fenrir]

Originally posted by pyro-manic
The Ashes are the ashes of a set of stumps from Lords (IIRC) that were burned by the Aussies to symbolize the death of English cricket after they beat them rather badly. The two teams play for the urn every year, and England hasn't won since the mid '80s.

<_< I somehow doubt I'm not the only one who knows this only because of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

[aldo_14]

I'm perturbed as to why I wrote exactly the same thing as pyro, despite having scanned the thread to avoid doing exactly that thing.

I must be going insane.  Or sleepy.

[Black Wolf]

Originally posted by pyro-manic
The Ashes are the ashes of a set of stumps from Lords (IIRC) that were burned by the Aussies to symbolize the death of English cricket after they beat them rather badly. The two teams play for the urn every year, and England hasn't won since the mid '80s.

It wasn't that they got beaten badly so much as the way in which they were beaten. Actually, it was more to do with the fact that it was so close. They had ten batsmen to score less than a hundred runs (85 or 90 or something ridiculously small) and they still lost it.

[pyro-manic]

I'd count that as getting beaten badly, then. Taking ten wickets for under a hundred runs is pretty damn good.

[Rictor]

Haha, fools, I immeditaley knew what was going on! I've read HHGTTH.

[Clave]

I'm a Brit and I love cricket so much I'm backing the Redsocks to win....

[aldo_14]

Ere a sticky wicket going for a duck on the over under over upper, me lovely jub.