31st AUGUST 1882 . . .
On this day, 31st August 1882, cricket's legend of The Ashes is born with the first of two mock obituaries lamenting England's loss to Australia.
Cricket in Australia has a history that goes back to the nation’s early colonial days. Although Australia has no official sport, cricket is regarded as the country’s unofficial sport. The first reported cricket game took place in Hyde Park, Sydney in January 1804. Inter-colonial games began when a team from Victoria travelled to Launceston, Tasmania for a game in February 1851. The first visit by an English cricket team to Australia occurred during Australia's summer of 1861-62. Australia reciprocated with a team to England, made up of indigenous players, in 1868. Thus began a tradition of the “Mother Country” against the colonial underdog.
The Ashes refers to a Test series played between Australia and England, made up of five Tests, hosted alternately by Australia and England. The legend of the Ashes began after Australia won its first Test cricket match on English soil. The victory was achieved by just seven runs. The English media mourned its loss with a satirical obituary first published on 31 August 1882 in the magazine ‘Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game’. The obituary read:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
ENGLAND'S SUPREMACY IN THE CRICKET-FIELD
WHICH EXPIRED ON THE 29TH DAY OF AUGUST, AT THE OVAL
"ITS END WAS PEATE"
This was followed by another mock obituary in British newspaper ‘The Sporting Times’ on 2 September 1882 and is the basis upon which the Ashes developed. Written by Reginald Shirley Brooks, it read:
In Affectionate Remembrance of
ENGLISH CRICKET,
which died at the Oval on
29 August 1882
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
After the Australian cricket team returned to Australia in December 1882, the Sydney ‘Bulletin’ wrote about ‘the revered ashes of English cricket which had been lain on the shelf of the Australian Eleven’. As the next test was to be hosted by Australia, the English media began to report on ‘the quest to regain the Ashes’. Thus was the legend of the Ashes consolidated.
Pictured: The death notice that appeared in The Sporting Times.
On this day, 3rd September 1901, the Australian flag is flown for the first time.
Following the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, the Commonwealth government held a design competition for a new national flag. There were 32,000 entries in the competition, and most featured the Union Jack, the Southern Cross, or native animals.
Pictured: Dawn Fraser in 1958.
