Mohandas Menon

The Test series between England and Australia are played for The Ashes. Since 1882-83 all the Test series between the two countries, with the exception of the following series (1976-77, 1979-80, 1987-88), have been played for the Ashes.

In 1883, Australia beat England at The Oval for the first time in England. This led an English sporting paper, The Sporting Times, to publish a mock obituary of English cricket, which concluded with the words, “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.” Accounts vary, but the ‘body’ was in fact a bail (or two, or a stump) which had been burned by “certain ladies.”

The ashes were placed in a tiny, goblet-shaped urn only four inches high and the urn was presented to the Honorable Ivo Bligh (later Lord Darnley). In his will, Lord Darnley bequeathed the urn to the M.C.C. Nowadays, the urn itself is kept permanently in the Long Room at Lord’s, but the side that last won a Test series between the two countries is said to hold The Ashes. In the event of a tied series, the holding country retains The Ashes. Australia has won the Ashes since 1989.

The details are as follows:
1989 (in Eng): Aus: 4, Eng: 0, drawn: 2, Allan Border (winning captains)
1990-91 (in Aus): Aus: 3, Eng: 0, drawn: 2, Allan Border
1993 (in Eng): Aus: 4, Eng: 1, drawn: 2, Allan Border
1994-95 (in Aus): Aus: 3, Eng: 1, drawn: 1, Mark Taylor
1997 (in Eng): Aus: 3, Eng: 2, Mark Taylor
1998-99 (in Aus): Aus: 3, Eng: 1, drawn: 1, Mark Taylor
The last occasion England on the Ashes was in 1986-87 under captain Mike Gatting (won 2-1)

Three English players of Indian origin have appeared in the Ashes series
1. Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji (Ranji):
Appeared in 15 Tests from 1896 to 1902, while scoring 989 runs (avg. 44.95) with two hundreds and six fifties. Ranji in fact scored 62 and 154 not out in his debut Test against Australia at Manchester in July 1896. However his highest score was the 175 at Sydney in December 1897.

2. Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji (Duleep):
A nephew of Ranji, Duleep appeared in four Ashes Test matches all in 1930. He made 416 runs (avg. 59.43) with one hundred and two fifties. Duleep emulated his uncle, Ranji, by scoring a hundred on debut - 173 at Lord's.

3. Iftikar Ali Khan Pataudi (Pataudi sr):
He became the third Indian to appear for England. He made his debut at Sydney during the infamous bodyline series and went on to score 102. This means all the three Indian born batsmen who have appeared in the Ashes series have scored a hundred on debut in the series. Pataudi in all played in three Ashes Tests while scoring 144 runs (avg. 28.80) with just one hundred. Pataudi, in fact later went on to lead India in three Tests against England in 1946.

ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA IN TESTS (1877 to 1999)

Head to head results:	Played	England	Australia	Drawn
In England	141	40	41	60
In Australia	151	53	76	26
Total	296	93	117	86

Highest team totals:
For England: 903-7d at the Oval 1938
For Australia: 729-6d at Lord's 1930

Lowest team totals:
For England: 45 Sydney 1886-87
For Australia: 36 Birmingham 1902

Note: England's lowest at home was the 52 at the Oval in 1948.

Highest individual scores:
For England: 364 Len Hutton The Oval 1938
For Australia: 334 Don Bradman Leeds 1930

Note: In all 453 hundreds have been scored - 206 by England and 247 by Australia

Top Run-getters:
For England

Player	Runs	Matches	Innings	Number	Average	H Score	100	50	0
JB Hobbs	3636	41	71	4	54.27	187	12	15	3
DI Gower	3269	42	77	4	44.78	215	9	12	3
G Boycott	2945	38	71	9	47.50	191	7	14	3
WR Hammond	2852	33	58	3	51.85	251	9	7	2
H Sutcliffe	2741	27	46	5	66.85	194	8	16	1
JH Edrich	2644	32	57	3	48.96	175	7	13	0
GA Gooch	2632	42	79	0	33.32	196	4	16	5
MC Cowdrey	2433	43	75	4	34.27	113	5	11	5
L Hutton	2428	27	49	6	56.47	364	5	14	2
KF Barrington	2111	23	39	6	63.97	256	5	13	1

For Australia

Player	Runs	Matches	Innings	Number	Average	H Score	100	50	0
DG Bradman	5028	37	63	7	89.79	334	19	12	6
AR Border	3548	47	82	19	56.32	200*	8	21	3
C Hill	2660	41	76	1	35.47	188	4	16	8
GS Chappell	2619	35	65	8	45.95	144	9	12	4
SR Waugh	2574	37	60	16	58.50	177*	7	12	6
MA Taylor	2496	33	61	2	42.31	219	6	15	2
RN Harvey	2416	37	68	5	38.35	167	6	12	6
VT Trumper	2263	40	74	5	32.80	185*	6	9	7
DC Boon	2237	31	57	8	45.65	184*	7	8	5
WM Lawry	2233	29	51	5	48.54	166	7	13	4
ES Gregory	2193	52	92	7	25.80	201	4	8	11
WW Armstrong	2172	42	71	9	35.03	158	4	6	5
IM Chappell	2138	30	56	4	41.12	192	4	16	5
AR Morris	2080	24	43	2	50.73	206	8	8	3

Best partnerships for each wicket:
For England

Wickets	Runs	Partners	Held at	Year
1st	323	JB Hobbs & W Rhodes	Melbourne	1911-12
2nd	382	L Hutton & M Leyland	The Oval	1938
3rd	262	WR Hammond & DR Jardine	Adelaide	1928-29
4th	288	N Hussain & GP Thorpe	Birmingham	1997
5th	206	E Paynter & DCS Compton	Nottingham	1938
6th	215	L Hutton & J Hardstaff jr	The Oval	1938
6th	215	G Boycott & APE Knott	Nottingham	1977
7th	143	FE Woolley & J Vine	Sydney	1911-12
8th	124	EH Hendren & H Larwood	Brisbane (Exb)	1928-29
9th	151	WH Scotton & WW Read	The Oval	1884
10th	130	RE Foster & W Rhodes	Sydney	1903-04

Best partnerships for each wicket:
For Australia

Wickets	Runs	Partners	Held at	Year
1st	329	GR Marsh & MA Taylor	Nottingham	1989
2nd	451	WH Ponsford & DG Bradman	The Oval	1934
3rd	276	DG Bradman & AL Hassett	Brisbane	1946-47
4th	388	WH Ponsford & DG Bradman	Leeds	1934
5th	405	SG Barnes & DG Bradman	Sydney	1946-47
6th	346	JHW Fingleton & DG Bradman	Melbourne	1936-37
7th	165	C Hill & H Trumble	Melbourne	1997-98
8th	243	RJ Hartigan & C Hill	Adelaide	1907-08
9th	154	SE Gregory & JM Blackham	Sydney	1894-95
10th	127	JM Taylor & AA Mailey	Sydney	1924-25

Best bowling (in an innings):
For England: 10-53 Jim Laker Manchester 1956
For Australia: 9-121 Arthur Mailey Melbourne 1920-21

Note: Australia's best in England was 8-31 by Frank Laver at Manchester in 1909

Note: In all 480 five-wicket hauls have been achieved - 222 by England and 258 by Australia

Best bowling (in a match):
For England: 19-90 Jim Laker Manchester 1956
For Australia: 16-137 Bob Massie Lord's 1972

Note: In all 77 10-wicket match hauls have been achieved - 37 by England and 40 by Australia

Top Wicket-takers:
For England

Players	Wickets	Matches	Balls	Runs	Average	Best	S R	R/O	10	5
IT Botham	148	36	8479	4093	27.66	6/78	57.29	2.90	2	9
RGD Willis	128	35	7294	3346	26.14	8/43	56.98	2.75	0	7
W Rhodes	109	41	5790	2616	24.00	8/68	53.12	2.71	1	6
SF Barnes	106	20	5749	2288	21.58	7/60	54.24	2.39	1	12
DL Underwood	105	29	8000	2770	26.38	7/50	76.19	2.08	2	4
AV Bedser	104	21	7065	2859	27.49	7/44	67.93	2.43	2	7
R Peel	101	20	5216	1715	16.98	7/31	51.64	1.97	1	5

For Australia

Players	Wickets	Matches	Balls	Runs	Average	Best	S R	R/O	10	5
DK Lillee	167	29	8516	3507	21.00	7/89	50.99	2.47	4	11
H Trumble	141	31	7895	2945	20.89	8/65	55.99	2.24	3	9
MA Noble	115	39	6895	2860	24.87	7/17	59.96	2.49	2	9
RR Lindwall	114	29	6728	2559	22.45	7/63	59.02	2.28	0	6
CV Grimmett	106	22	9164	3439	32.44	6/37	86.45	2.25	2	11
G Giffen	103	31	6391	2791	27.10	7/117	62.05	2.62	1	7
WJ O’Reilly	102	19	7864	2587	25.36	7/54	77.10	1.97	3	8
CTB Turner	101	17	5179	1670	16.53	7/43	51.28	1.94	2	11
TM Alderman	100	17	4717	2117	21.17	6/47	47.17	2.69	1	11
JR Thomson	100	21	4951	2418	24.18	6/46	49.51	2.93	0	5