Cricket is very
simple. It is played between two sides - one out and the other in.
The side that’s in goes in and the side that’s out goes out and
tries to get each man in the side that’s in, out. When the side
that’s in is out, then the side that’s been out goes in and the
side that’s been in goes out, and tries to get the side coming in
out. Each man in the side that’s in goes in until he’s out. When
both sides have been in and out, including the not-outs, that’s the
end of the game.
The Ashes may not be what you think either.
It is one of international cricket's most celebrated rivalries and
dates back to 1882.
The series is named after a satirical obituary published in a
British newspaper, The Sporting Times, in 1882 after a match at The
Oval in which Australia beat England on an English ground for the
first time. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and
the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The
English media dubbed the next English tour to Australia (1882–83)
as the quest to regain The Ashes.
During that tour a small terracotta urn was presented to England
captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. The contents of
the urn are reputed to be the ashes of an item of cricket
equipment, possibly a bail, ball or stump. Some Aborigines hold
that The Ashes are those of King Cole, a cricketer who toured
England in 1868. The Dowager Countess of Darnley claimed recently
that her mother-in-law, Bligh's wife Florence Morphy, said that
they were the remains of a lady's veil.
The urn is made of terracotta and is about six inches (150 mm) tall
and may originally have been a perfume jar.
The urn is
erroneously believed by some to be the trophy of the Ashes series,
but it has never been formally adopted as such and Bligh always
considered it to be a personal gift. Replicas of the urn are often
held aloft by victorious teams as a symbol of their victory in an
Ashes series, but the actual urn has never been presented or
displayed as a trophy in this way. Whichever side holds the Ashes,
the urn normally remains in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at
Lord's since being presented to the MCC by Bligh's widow upon his
death.
Since the 1998–99 Ashes series, a Waterford Crystal representation
of the Ashes urn has been presented to the winners of an Ashes
series as the official trophy of that series.
Stirling Cricket Club relocated from their original home in June
2007 and although cricket is is not seen as a traditional sport in
Scotland with "crowds" at a minimum it is hoped that this new site
will attract more people to come and have a day out.