1882 and all that!
The year 1882 will be engraved on my memory for years to come, not that I was around at the time, of course. In case you didn’t know, 1882 was when a touring Australian cricket team first beat England on home soil. England, with the legendary WG Grace in their ranks, lost by seven runs, Aussie fast bowler Fred Spofforth taking 14 wickets for 90 runs.
The following day, a mock obituary ran in the Sporting Times “in affectionate remembrance of English cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882″. It added: “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”
And so it turns out that I was the lucky winner in the 2005 Barmy Army competition, courtesy of my big bro’, who put me up to entering and supplied the correct answer. Thanks to him, and to Barmy Army Travel, we now have two tickets to see the Melbourne and Sydney tests, and we’re keeping everything crossed that we’re not already 3-0 down by the time we get there!
