The Ashes is a men's Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and that "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes.
The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, participating in both the first ODI, against England in the 1970–71 season and the first T20I, against New Zealand in the 2004–05 season, winning both games. The team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament and the Big Bash League. Australia are the current ICC World Test Championship and ICC Cricket World Cup champions. They are regarded as most successful cricket teams in the history of Cricket.
Gregory Stephen Chappell is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminent Australian batsman of his time who allied elegant stroke making to fierce concentration. An exceptional all round player who bowled medium pace and, at his retirement, held the world record for the most catches in Test cricket, Chappell's career straddled two eras as the game moved toward a greater level of professionalism after the WSC schism. He was the vice captain of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Allan Robert Border is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team, and led his team to victory in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, the maiden world title for Australia. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh. Border formerly held the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances of 153, before it was surpassed in June 2018 by Alastair Cook, and is second on the list of number of Tests as captain.
Kimberley John Hughes is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of South Africa, a country which at the time was subject to a sporting boycott opposing apartheid.
David Clarence Boon is an Australian cricket match referee, former cricket commentator and international cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1996. A right-handed batsman and a very occasional off-spin bowler, he played first-class cricket for both his home state Tasmania and English county side Durham. Boon was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
Dennis Keith Lillee, is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation". Lillee formed a new ball partnership with Jeff Thomson which is recognised as one of the greatest bowling pairs of all time.
Craig John McDermott is a former Australian cricketer. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career, he was the bowling coach for the Australian team for two spells between 2011 and 2016. McDermott was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
Kepler Christoffel Wessels is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor.
The WACA Ground is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA).
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the Australian one-day international and Test teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective formats, with 15,313 first-class runs before making his Test debut. With his time representing Australia, Hussey won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
The England cricket team toured Australia during the 1986–87 cricket season for a five-match Test series to contest The Ashes. While in Australia, England also played a number of tour matches against state and representative teams, and competed in two One-Day International (ODI) tournaments. Under the captaincy of Mike Gatting, England retained the Ashes with a 2–1 series win.
Graham Douglas McKenzie – commonly known as "Garth", after the comic strip hero – is an Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia (1960–74), Leicestershire (1969–75), Transvaal (1979–80) and Australia (1961–71) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He succeeded Alan Davidson as Australia's premier fast bowler and was in turn succeeded by Dennis Lillee, playing with both at either end of his career. McKenzie was particularly noted for his muscular physique and ability to take wickets on good batting tracks. His father Eric McKenzie and uncle Douglas McKenzie played cricket for Western Australia. Garth was chosen for the Ashes tour of England in 1961 aged only 20. He made his debut in the Second Test at Lord's, where his 5/37 wrapped up the England innings to give Australia a 5-wicket victory.
Timothy Brian Alexander May is a former Australian cricketer for South Australia. He was, until June 2013, a leading players' representative in his role as Chief Executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA). May played in 24 Tests and 47 ODIs in an injury-interrupted career between 1987 and 1995. May was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup and the South Australian team that won the 1995-96 Sheffield Shield Competition.
Bruce Malcolm Laird is a former Western Australian and Australian cricketer. He was an opening batsmen who played in 21 Test matches and 23 One Day Internationals. He also played 13 "Supertests" in World Series Cricket. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who currently plays for Victoria in first-class and List A cricket, and for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. He has played Test cricket for Australia over an eight-year period from 2008 to 2016, before being recalled for the Test series against Pakistan in 2018. Peter Siddle retired from International cricket in December 2019. During his time with Australia, Siddle won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
Michael Anthony Beer is an Australian former cricketer who played for the Victorian cricket team. He played as a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He made his Test cricket debut in the final match of the 2010–11 Ashes series. After several seasons playing for the Western Australian cricket team, in the 2016–17 season Beer returned to his home state of Victoria to continue his professional cricket career.
Cameron Donald Green is an Australian cricketer who plays for Australia, Western Australia and Perth Scorchers as a batting all-rounder. He made his international debut for the Australian national cricket team in December 2020. Green was a member of the Australian team that won the 2023 Cricket World Cup and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final.
