from a jesting reference to the ashes of the dead body of English cricket after an Australian victory in 1882. The newspaper Sporting Times published a mock obituary of English cricket stating that ‘The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia’. When an English touring team beat Australia in the following winter, some Australian ladies jokingly presented the English captain, Ivo Bligh, with a small terracotta urn containing the ashes of (allegedly) a bail or stump. Ever since, matches between the two countries have been played for this nominal trophy, which remains at Lord's cricket ground and is not physically possessed by the winning side