The Ashes Betting

The Ashes pits Australia against England, and the rivalry between the ashes cricket teams is almost legendary, opening up lots of Ashes betting oppertunities. The Ashes competition takes place in both countries on an alternate basis, with a gap of roughly two years between each series. The exact length of time between the ashes competitions varies because the Ashes series is always played in the summer months of the country hosting it.

Many people associate the Ashes with an urn that is said to contain the ashes of a cricket item – perhaps a ball or cricket stump – but the Ashes urn actually came into being after the commencement of the series referred to as the Ashes.

The term “the ashes” stems from a tongue-in-cheek obituary that appeared in the Sporting Life on 30 August, 1882, following Australia soundly beating the English cricket team in its own country (at the Oval, to be precise). “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia” the obituary said, and the ashes term was adopted for future competitions. Later in that same year, when England captain Ivo Bligh led the team to Australia for the next tour, the media referred to it as a quest to bring the ashes home.

With a few exceptions, there are generally five test matches in the Ashes series. There have been 64 Ashes series played at the time of writing (the next one being the Ashes 2009) and of these Australia has won the Ashes 31 times and England has won the Ashes 28 times. The other five series resulted in draws.

As well as being a huge hit with cricket fans, the Ashes is also extremely popular with people who enjoy betting on sports for its own sake. There are always plenty of cricket betting markets available to anyone who follows the Ashes, and if you are someone who likes to put your money where your opinion is (and tends to have fairly accurate opinions), betting on the Ashes can be quite lucrative.

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