The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The series have varied in length, consisting of between one and seven Test matches, but since 1998 have been consistently five matches. It is the sport's most celebrated rivalry and dates back to 1882.^[2][3][4] It is generally played biennially, alternating between the United Kingdom and Australia. Australia is the current holders of the Ashes, having retained them with a draw in the 2023 series.

Although the first Test series played between England and Australia was in the 1876–77 season,^[5][6] the Ashes originated from the solitary Test which the two nations contested in 1882.^[7] England lost the match, played at The Oval, and a mock obituary was posted in The Sporting Times, declaring the death of English cricket. It stated that: "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."^[8] Ivo Bligh adopted the term and, as captain of the English party that travelled to Australia the following winter, promised to bring the "Ashes" home.^[1]

After its loss to Australia in 1882, England won the next eight series between the two sides, during which time it lost only four of the 22 Tests. Australia won an Ashes series for the first time in 1891–92, when it beat England 2–1.^[6] The 1932–33 tour was known as the "Bodyline series" as, in response to the talented Australian batsman Don Bradman, England developed a tactic of bowling quickly at the body of the batsmen with most of the fielders placed in a close ring on the leg side.^[9] England won the series, but the tactic prompted changes to the laws of cricket,^[9] and the Australians, buoyed by the batting of Bradman,^[10] regained the Ashes during the next series and then held them for six series, spanning nineteen years.^[6] It was during this period that the Australians travelled to England in 1948, and remained unbeaten during the whole tour, gaining the nickname of "The Invincibles".^[11] In addition to winning the five match Test series 4–0, Australia won or drew all of its 29 other matches against county and representative sides.^[12]

Since 1882, only one series has been played between the two sides that was not deemed an Ashes series, that being the 3 Test Cricket series in the Australian summer of 1979–80, won by Australia 3–0. This was the first Australian home Test series with a unified team after two summers of World Series Cricket and was not deemed an ashes series as England had retained the Ashes 5–1 on Australian soil 12 months earlier. On three other occasions, a one-off commemorative Test Match was played in which the Ashes were not at stake, which were the 1977 Melbourne Centenary Test, the 1980 Lords Centenary Test and the 1988 Bicentennial Test played at the SCG in January 1988.^[6]

Australia has won more Ashes Tests than England, winning 140 of the 340 matches, compared to England's 108 victories. Australia also holds the edge in Ashes series won, having won on 34 occasions compared to England's 32. There have been seven drawn series, and on six of these occasions, Australia has retained the Ashes due to being holders going into the series. England has retained the Ashes after a drawn series once.

On three occasions has a team won all the Tests in an Ashes series; only Australia has achieved the feat 5–0 in 1920–21, 2006–07 and 2013–14.^[6] England's largest winning margin in an Ashes series was in 1978–79, when it won 5–1. England's largest unbeaten winning margin of 3–0 in an Ashes series was achieved in 1886, 1977 and 2013.

Both England and Australia have held the Ashes for a record eight consecutive series, England doing so between 1882–83 and 1890, while Australia achieved the feat from 1989 to 2002–03.^[6]

• Years denotes the cricket season in which the series takes place.
• Host denotes the host country for the series.
• First match denotes the date on which the first match of the series commenced.
• Tests denotes how many Tests were played in the series, and in parentheses (if different) the number of Tests that were scheduled to be played in the series.
• Australia denotes how many matches in the series were won by Australia.
• England denotes how many matches in the series were won by England.
• Drawn denotes how many matches in the series were drawn.
• Result denotes which side won the series overall, or if it was drawn.
• Holder denotes which side was awarded (or retained) the Ashes at the end of the series of the matches

S	Years	Host	First match	T	Australia	England	D	Result	Holder	Ref
1	1882–83	Australia	30 December 1882	3	1	2	0	England		[13]
2	1884	England	11 July 1884	3	0	1	2	England		[14]
3	1884–85	Australia	12 December 1884	5	2	3	0	England		[15]
4	1886	England	5 July 1886	3	0	3	0	England		[16]
5	1886–87	Australia	28 January 1887	2	0	2	0	England		[17]
6	1887–88	Australia	10 February 1888	1	0	1	0	England		[18]
7	1888	England	16 July 1888	3	1	2	0	England		[19]
8	1890	England	21 July 1890	2 (3)	0	2	0	England		[20]
9	1891–92	Australia	1 January 1892	3	2	1	0	Australia		[21]
10	1893	England	17 July 1893	3	0	1	2	England		[22]
11	1894–95	Australia	14 December 1894	5	2	3	0	England		[23]
12	1896	England	22 June 1896	3	1	2	0	England		[24]
13	1897–98	Australia	13 December 1897	5	4	1	0	Australia		[25]
14	1899	England	1 June 1899	5	1	0	4	Australia		[26]
15	1901–02	Australia	13 December 1901	5	4	1	0	Australia		[27]
16	1902	England	29 May 1902	5	2	1	2	Australia		[28]
17	1903–04	Australia	11 December 1903	5	2	3	0	England		[29]
18	1905	England	29 May 1905	5	0	2	3	England		[30]
19	1907–08	Australia	13 December 1907	5	4	1	0	Australia		[31]
20	1909	England	27 May 1909	5	2	1	2	Australia		[32]
21	1911–12	Australia	15 December 1911	5	1	4	0	England		[33]
22	1912	England	27 May 1912	3	0	1	2	England		[34]
23	1920–21	Australia	17 December 1920	5	5	0	0	Australia		[35]
24	1921	England	28 May 1921	5	3	0	2	Australia		[36]
25	1924–25	Australia	19 December 1924	5	4	1	0	Australia		[37]
26	1926	England	12 June 1926	5	0	1	4	England		[38]
27	1928–29	Australia	30 November 1928	5	1	4	0	England		[39]
28	1930	England	13 June 1930	5	2	1	2	Australia		[40]
29	1932–33	Australia	2 December 1932	5	1	4	0	England		[41]
30	1934	England	8 June 1934	5	2	1	2	Australia		[42]
31	1936–37	Australia	4 December 1936	5	3	2	0	Australia		[43]
32	1938	England	10 June 1938	4 (5)	1	1	2	Drawn	Australia	[44]
33	1946–47	Australia	29 November 1946	5	3	0	2	Australia		[45]
34	1948	England	10 June 1948	5	4	0	1	Australia		[46]
35	1950–51	Australia	1 December 1950	5	4	1	0	Australia		[47]
36	1953	England	11 June 1953	5	0	1	4	England		[48]
37	1954–55	Australia	26 November 1954	5	1	3	1	England		[49]
38	1956	England	7 June 1956	5	1	2	2	England		[50]
39	1958–59	Australia	5 December 1958	5	4	0	1	Australia		[51]
40	1961	England	8 June 1961	5	2	1	2	Australia		[52]
41	1962–63	Australia	30 November 1962	5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia	[53]
42	1964	England	4 June 1964	5	1	0	4	Australia		[54]
43	1965–66	Australia	10 December 1965	5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia	[55]
44	1968	England	6 June 1968	5	1	1	3	Drawn	Australia	[56]
45	1970–71	Australia	27 November 1970	6 (7)	0	2	4	England		[57]
46	1972	England	8 June 1972	5	2	2	1	Drawn	England	[58]
47	1974–75	Australia	29 November 1974	6	4	1	1	Australia		[59]
48	1975	England	10 July 1975	4	1	0	3	Australia		[60]
49	1977	England	16 June 1977	5	0	3	2	England		[61]
50	1978–79	Australia	1 December 1978	6	1	5	0	England		.[62]
51	1981	England	18 June 1981	6	1	3	2	England		[63]
52	1982–83	Australia	12 November 1982	5	2	1	2	Australia		[64]
53	1985	England	13 June 1985	6	1	3	2	England		[65]
54	1986–87	Australia	14 November 1986	5	1	2	2	England		[66]
55	1989	England	8 June 1989	6	4	0	2	Australia		[67]
56	1990–91	Australia	23 November 1990	5	3	0	2	Australia		[68]
57	1993	England	3 June 1993	6	4	1	1	Australia		[69]
58	1994–95	Australia	25 November 1994	5	3	1	1	Australia		[70]
59	1997	England	5 June 1997	6	3	2	1	Australia		[71]
60	1998–99	Australia	20 November 1998	5	3	1	1	Australia		[72]
61	2001	England	5 July 2001	5	4	1	0	Australia		[73]
62	2002–03	Australia	7 November 2002	5	4	1	0	Australia		[74]
63	2005	England	21 July 2005	5	1	2	2	England		[75]
64	2006–07	Australia	23 November 2006	5	5	0	0	Australia		[76]
65	2009	England	8 July 2009	5	1	2	2	England		[77]
66	2010–11	Australia	25 November 2010	5	1	3	1	England		[78]
67	2013	England	10 July 2013	5	0	3	2	England		[79]
68	2013–14	Australia	21 November 2013	5	5	0	0	Australia		[80]
69	2015	England	8 July 2015	5	2	3	0	England		[81]
70	2017–18	Australia	23 November 2017	5	4	0	1	Australia		[82]
71	2019	England	1 August 2019	5	2	2	1	Drawn	Australia	[83]
72	2021–22	Australia	8 December 2021	5	4	0	1	Australia		[84]
73	2023	England	16 June 2023	5	2	2	1	Drawn	Australia	[85]
74	2025–26	Australia	21 November 2025

*Ashes retained by Australia six times because of drawn series (1938; 1962-63; 1965-66; 1968; 2019 and 2023) and by England once (1972).

Notes

References

• Williamson, Martin. "A short history of the Ashes". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.