Melbourne ~ Few sporting contests carry the history, drama and aura of the Ashes. Born from a mock newspaper obituary in 1882 and symbolized by a tiny urn, the rivalry between Australia and England has shaped more than a century of test cricket.

Ahead of one of the biggest contests on the cricket calendar, here's what to know about the upcoming five-match series.

The origins The Ashes is one of the oldest and most iconic rivalries in international sport, featuring test cricket contests between Australia and England. Cricket tests between English and Australian teams started in 1877. According to the Marylebone Cricket Club, the Lord's-based custodian of the laws of the game, the term“Ashes” was first used in August 1882 in a satirical obituary for English cricket printed in The Sporting Times after the representative team lost on home soil to Australia for the first time.

The obituary reported that the body of English cricket would be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia. English captain Ivo Bligh led a team to Australia later that year with a vow to reclaim“the ashes”.

A fan presented Bligh with a small terracotta urn as a symbol of the Ashes after an England victory. And that's how the Ashes and the urn became intrinsically connected.

Bligh met his future wife on that day. The couple moved to England and took the urn with them, keeping it in the family until after Bligh died and it was bequeathed to the MCC.

The Ashes series has evolved into a regular event, held approximately every two years and alternating between the two countries.

Some classic moments The 1932–33“Bodyline” series remains one of the sport's great flashpoints, with England using hostile“fast leg theory” bowling tactics to intimidate the Australian batters, especially Don Bradman. England reclaimed the Ashes, but the rules were later modified to restrict similar tactics.

Shane Warne produced the“Ball of the Century” at Old Trafford in 1993, his first Ashes delivery for Australia drifting and spinning almost incomprehensibly to bowl Mike Gatting. It announced Warne as a generational star.

Ben Stokes delivered one of the greatest test innings ever at Headingley in 2019. His unbeaten 135, mixing supreme composure with fearless hitting, dragged England to an improbable one-wicket victory and etched a new legend into Ashes folklore.

In 2023, the Ashes produced another flashpoint when England's Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped at Lord's after wandering out of his crease, believing the ball to be out of play. The moment was entirely within the laws but fiercely debated for its spirit-of-cricket implications. The incident ignited a storm across the cricketing world, with Australian players verbally abused in the members' Long Room and political leaders weighing in, cementing the dismissal as one of the most polarising in Ashes history.

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