On 15 March 1877, play began in the very first Ashes Test match.
Back then, an English cricket team visited Australia to play a time-unlimited match against the hosts at the MCG. This match, which Australia won by 45 runs, was subsequently designated a Test match – the first ever. That match – and the repeat match at the MCG (which England won, to draw the series one-all) – were then classified, retrospectively, as matches of the very first Ashes Test series.
One hundred years later, the Centenary Test match – again played between Australia and England at the MCG (March 1977) – ended in the exact same result as the first ever, with Australia again winning by 45 runs.
Cricket has become integral to Aussie culture, and in no small part due to our great climate, abundant space and Commonwealth/colonial heritage.
Celebrate this birthday of international test and Ashes cricket by:
- watching these documentaries of the 1977 test and its significance
- viewing these 1970s cricket and other ads showing Aussie life and communal pride as it was (compared with the up-tight, preachy PC ads of today)
- reading further about the first ashes test and that held 100 years later
- having a hit in the backyard or down at the local nets
- visiting your local oval and indulge in a keen contest between bat and ball this weekend
- watching a game on the big screen down at your local
- checking out the game’s rich history or the stats of your favourite cricketers online, and/or
- sharing this Action Plan post on social media with your mates.
