The Ashes is considered the greatest rivalry in cricket and the fans are eagerly counting down to the start of an epic showdown between England and Australia this year. The newly crowned World Champions in the 50-over format will have their tails up when they face old foes. England will be eager to reclaim the Ashes after a 4-0 humiliation suffered in the 2017/18 series. The way the Australians dominated that campaign means England have some catching up to do. So what exactly is the significance of this series that it's one of the most hyped series in the game of cricket? England vs Australia, Ashes 2019 Schedule With Match Time in IST For Free PDF Download: Full ENG vs AUS Test Series Time Table, Fixtures and Venue Details.

History of Ashes

Before the start of the England vs Australia series of 1882, the two countries had played nine Test matches and it was business as usual. Their games did not receive the kind of attention it did after a one-off series the visiting Australians played in the Oval, London in 1882. A low scoring game which the visitors won became an integral part of the history of cricket. England bundled out Australia for a meager 63 runs in the first innings but could not do much with the bat in the hand. A slender 38 run lead for the hosts meant the game was delicately poised. Ashes 2019: Here’s a Look at the Top Five Knocks Played in England vs Australia Tests Over the Past Decade.

In Australia’s second innings, the batsmen improved slightly but the kind of effort needed to gain control of the match largely deserted them. Banking on Hugh Massie’s 55 runs from 60 balls, Australia managed 122. All England had to do was spend some time in the middle and they could have reached the score of 85 needed for a win. But, the pumped-up Oz showed their class with the ball and restricted England to 77.

This result left an entire nation stunned as how their team could fail to chase down such a low total. Australia were a colony and not completely in grip of the game that is cricket while England treated it as its own. The loss was difficult to digest for the English and considered a humiliation. Ashes 2019: Here’s a Look at the Top Five Bowling Performances in England vs Australia Tests Over the Last Decade.

Ashes Urn

The Sporting Times reporting on this story came up with a creative satirical post mentioning on how English cricket had died and its body will be cremated and Ashes taken to Australia. This article became a quite a hit both in England and abroad prompting English skipper Ivo Bligh to vow to regain the ashes when his side visited Australia for the next series.

After winning convincingly on that tour, a group of Melbourne women including Ivo Bligh’s future wife Florence Murphy presented him a small urn that is believed to have contents of ashes of a wooden bail. This marked the beginning of the famous Ashes Trophy between these two great cricketing nation. Ashes 2019: James Anderson, Mitchell Starc and Other Bowlers to Watch Out For During England vs Australia Test Series.

Expect quite a lot of drama, emotions, criticism, strategising and most importantly some quality cricket when England and Australia face-off in the five-Test Ashes series in the next one and a half months.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2019 10:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).