Why an urn?
After Australia's 1882 win at The Oval, The Sporting Times printed: 'In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at The Oval, 29th August 1882… The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.' When England toured Australia later that year, captain Ivo Bligh said he had come to 'recover the Ashes' — and a group of Melbourne women gifted him a small urn containing burnt cricket-related material.
That original urn is so fragile it has not left Lord's Museum since the 1980s. The trophy lifted on the field is a crystal replica.
Format & hosting
Five Tests, hosted alternately. England's summer (June–August) brings swing and seam; Australia's summer (November–January) brings hard bouncy pitches and the pink-ball day-night Test at Adelaide.
If a series ends drawn, the team currently holding the urn keeps it. That's how Australia retained the urn after the 2-2 series in England in 2023.
Famous series
1932–33 Bodyline — England's leg-theory tactics nearly broke diplomatic relations.
2005 — Widely considered the greatest series ever; England won 2-1 with two of the closest Tests in history.
2019 — Ben Stokes's 135 not out at Headingley to chase 359 with one wicket left.