Ashes (cricket series)

The Ashes is a historic cricket series played between England and Australia, typically every two years. It consists of a series of Test matches—long, five-day games—where each team competes to win. The series originated in 1882 when Australia famously defeated England on English soil, prompting a satirical obituary claiming English cricket had " died and left a placeholder." The name "The Ashes" symbolizes this rivalry, with a small urn believed to hold the symbolic ashes of English cricket. The team that wins the most matches across the series earns the Ashes trophy and maintains or takes the series lead.