Although the first Test series played between England and Australia was in the
1876–77 season, the Ashes originated from the solitary Test which the two nations contested in
1882. England lost the match, played at
The Oval, and a mock
obituary was posted in
The Sporting Times, declaring the death of English cricket. It stated that: "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."
Ivo Bligh adopted the term and, as captain of the English party that travelled to Australia the
following winter, promised to bring the "Ashes" home. England won the series, but the tactic prompted changes to the laws of cricket, regained the Ashes during the
next series and then held them for six series, spanning nineteen years. In addition to winning the
five match Test series 4–0, Australia won or drew all of its 29 other matches against
county and representative sides. Since 1882, only one series has been played between the two sides that was not deemed an Ashes series, that being the three Test series in the Australian summer of
1979–80, won by Australia 3–0. This was the first Australian home Test series with a unified team after two summers of
World Series Cricket and was not deemed an Ashes series as England had retained the Ashes 5–1 on Australian soil
12 months earlier. On three other occasions, a one-off commemorative Test match was played in which the Ashes were not at stake, which were the
1977 Melbourne Centenary Test, the
1980 Lords Centenary Test and the
1988 Bicentennial Test played at the
Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1988.
Series records Australia has won more Ashes Tests than England, winning 140 of the 340 matches, compared to England's 108 victories. Australia also holds the edge in Ashes series won, having won on 34 occasions compared to England's 32. There have been seven drawn series, and on six of these occasions, Australia has retained the Ashes due to being holders going into the series. England has retained the Ashes after a drawn series once. On three occasions has a team won all the Tests in an Ashes series; only Australia has achieved the feat 5–0 in
1920–21,
2006–07 and
2013–14. England's largest winning margin in an Ashes series was in
1978–79, when it won 5–1. England's largest unbeaten winning margin of 3–0 in an Ashes series was achieved in
1886,
1977 and
2013. Both England and Australia have held the Ashes for a record eight consecutive series, England doing so between
1882–83 and
1890, while Australia achieved the feat from
1989 to
2002–03. ==Key==