England wins the Ashes!

Dear England, I'm pleased to say that yesterday your cricket team won the Ashes! What are the Ashes I hear you cry? Well, every year since 1882 England has played Australia at Test cricket. England usually lose - so much, in fact, that between 1989 and 2004 Australia won all the matches - yes, all 16. That was quite a team.

But things are changing now. After Australia won again in 2006/7, it looked for a moment like histroy was repeating her cruel loop. But yesterday at the Oval, England did it again! In a very close Test series that has attracted a lot of televised and emotional attention in the UK (and somewhat less in the US!), cricket might just be coming home.

The name the Ashes tell a curious story. "The Ashes" are thought to be the burned bails from the top of the wickets from the original game, the England-Australia clash of 1882. And if you don't know what bails or wickets are, you might want to check out cricket a little more online! The wickets are the 3 sticks that the bowler has to knock down - and the bails sit on top of them (technically the bails only have to be nudged off, and the wickets can stay upright, and the batsman is still out). There are of course, many ways to get a batsman out...see here!

Howzat!