Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 21, 2005



The Ashes is a biennial Test cricket contest played between England and Australia. The series is named after the trophy, which is a small wooden urn said to contain the burnt bails from an 1882 game at The Oval. Each Ashes series typically consists of five Test matches, and the series alternate between the two countries. In the cricketing world, the Ashes is regarded as one of the sport's most famous and fierce rivalries. Particularly notable Ashes series took place in 1932/33 (the Bodyline tour), 1948 (Sir Donald Bradman's "Invincibles" Australian side) and 1981 (in which an England team spearheaded by Ian Botham won a thrilling series).

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