Controversies in 1882

10 incidents documented

The Birth of the Ashes — Oval Test, 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

Across two August days in 1882, Australia beat England by seven runs at The Oval in the only Test of the tour. Fred 'The Demon' Spofforth took 14 for 90 in the match — 7/46 in the first innings and 7/44 in the second — to bowl England out for 77 chasing only 85. Within hours The Sporting Times printed a mock obituary declaring that English cricket was dead and that 'the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.' The most famous trophy in the game was born from a satirical paragraph.

#the-ashes#ashes-origin#spofforth

⭐Serious

Spofforth's 14 for 90 — The Demon at The Oval, 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

Fred 'The Demon' Spofforth took 7 for 46 and 7 for 44 at The Oval in August 1882, match figures of 14 for 90 that bowled Australia to a 7-run win and gave birth to the Ashes legend. The second-innings spell — bowled in tandem with Harry Boyle — broke an England chase of just 85 and stood as the best match analysis in Test cricket for 31 years.

#spofforth#demon-bowler#1882

😂Moderate

The Sporting Times Mock Obituary — How a Joke Became a Trophy, 1882

England v Australia

1882-09-02

Four days after Australia's 7-run win at The Oval, the satirical weekly The Sporting Times printed a 30-line mock obituary by Reginald Shirley Brooks announcing the death of English cricket and noting that 'the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.' The squib was meant for one Saturday's amusement and ended up giving cricket its most enduring trophy name.

#the-ashes#sporting-times#reginald-brooks

😂Moderate

'I Couldn't Trust Mr Studd' — Ted Peate Bowled, Oval 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

With England needing 10 to beat Australia at The Oval and the Cambridge amateur CT Studd waiting at the non-striker's end, Yorkshire professional Ted Peate took strike at number 11, swung at Harry Boyle and was bowled. Asked in the dressing room why he hadn't simply blocked and given Studd the strike, Peate is supposed to have replied, 'I couldn't trust Mr Studd.' The line — Yorkshire pro on Cambridge amateur — has outlived everyone involved.

#ted-peate#ct-studd#1882

⭐Serious

Bligh's 'Quest to Recover the Ashes' — 1882-83 Tour

England v Australia

1882-12-30

Six weeks after the Sporting Times mock obituary, the Hon Ivo Bligh sailed for Australia at the head of a private English team with the explicit, half-joking goal of bringing 'the Ashes' home. England lost the first Test at Melbourne, won the next two at Melbourne and Sydney to take the official series 2-1, and at the end of the tour Bligh was presented with a small terracotta urn that, decades later, became the most famous trophy in cricket.

#ivo-bligh#the-ashes#1882-83

⭐Serious

The Ashes Urn — Rupertswood Presentation, 1882-83

England v Australia

1882-12-25

Sometime over Christmas and Easter 1882-83, at the Rupertswood estate of Sir William Clarke at Sunbury, near Melbourne, the Hon Ivo Bligh was presented with a small terracotta urn 10.5 cm high that was said to contain the ashes of a burnt bail. The presentation, initially a private joke during a country-house cricket match, eventually produced the most famous trophy in the sport.

#ashes-urn#rupertswood#florence-morphy

🥊Serious

WG Grace Runs Out Sammy Jones — The Spark for Spofforth, 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

On the second morning of the 1882 Oval Test, with Australia's score at 114 in their second innings, young Sammy Jones wandered out of his crease to do some gardening — and WG Grace, ball in hand at point, threw down the stumps. Spofforth, watching from the pavilion, called Grace 'a bloody cheat' and reportedly stormed into the England dressing room with the line, 'this will lose you the match.' Two hours later he had taken 7 for 44 and Australia had won by 7 runs.

#wg-grace#sammy-jones#spofforth

⭐Serious

Jack Blackham — The Prince of Wicket-Keepers, 1880s

Australia

1882-08-29

Jack Blackham of Victoria stood up to the stumps even to the fastest Australian bowlers in the 1880s, in gloves Wisden later described as 'little more than gardening gloves'. He was the wicketkeeper in the inaugural 1877 Test, kept in 35 Tests through 1894, and effectively eliminated the long-stop position from cricket. Wisden called him 'the prince of wicket-keepers' — a title that has stayed attached to him for 140 years.

#jack-blackham#wicketkeeping#australia

⭐Serious

Billy Murdoch — Australia's First Great Captain, 1880s

Australia / England (one Test)

1882-08-29

William Lloyd Murdoch captained Australia in 16 Tests through the 1880s, scored the first Test 200 (211 at the Oval in 1884), held the Test record score (153* against England in 1880) for several years, and was the architect of Australia's 7-run win at the Oval in 1882. He later (controversially) played one Test for England against South Africa in 1891-92.

#billy-murdoch#australia#captain

🔥Mild

Bail or Veil? — The Mystery of the Ashes Urn's Contents

England (Bligh's XI) v Australia

1882-12-25

What is actually inside the Ashes urn? For over a century the standard answer was 'a burnt cricket bail', but in 1998 the 8th Earl of Darnley's daughter-in-law claimed the contents were the burnt remains of a lady's veil, possibly belonging to Florence Morphy or Lady Janet Clarke. MCC, which has had the urn since 1927, has never officially confirmed either version. After a 2006-07 examination an MCC official said it was '95 per cent certain' the contents were a bail — leaving 5 per cent of cricket's most famous mystery still open.

#ashes-urn#bail#veil