The Ashes has seen England and Australia competing at Test cricket since 1883.
More than a hundred years later, the series remains one of the most important and viewed events in world cricket.
The Australian team will travel to England in 2019 with the Ashes following hot on the heels of the Cricket World Cup, which is hosted by England and Wales this summer.
After a long period of Australian domination both home and away during the 1990s and early 2000s, the past decade has seen the urn change hands regularly between both teams.
Australia won convincingly in the 2017/18 series but England will be hoping to get revenge on home soil.
RadioTimes.com has rounded up everything you need to know about the upcoming 2019 Ashes.
The Ashes 2019 schedule
1st Test
Dates: Thursday 1st – Monday 5th August 2019
Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham
2nd Test
Dates: Wednesday 14th – Sunday 18th August 2019
Venue: Lord’s, London
3rd Test
Dates: Thursday 22nd – Monday 26th August 2019
Venue: Headingley, Leeds
4th Test
Dates: Wednesday 4th – Sunday 8th September 2019
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
5th Test
Dates: Thursday 12th – Monday 16th September 2019
Venue: The Oval, London
How to watch and stream The Ashes live on TV in the UK
The Ashes will be available to watch live in the UK on Sky TV and NOW TV.
Viewers will be able to watch all the matches live on Sky Sports Cricket, which in the past has been renamed Sky Sports Ashes for the course of the series.
Sky Sports subscribers will also be able to stream the matches via the SkyGo and Sky Sports apps.
If you don’t have Sky, you’ll be able to watch the matches through NOW TV without signing up for a full contract. You can get a Sky Sports day pass for £7.99, a week pass for £12.99 or a month pass for £33.99. NOW TV can be streamed through a computer or apps found on most smart TVs, phones and consoles.
How to watch highlights of The Ashes in the UK
Free-to-air highlights of the matches will be available daily during the tournament on Channel 5.
How to watch and stream The Ashes live in Australia
For those willing to stay up late and get up early, The Ashes will be broadcast on Channel 7 and Fox Sports in Australia.
How to buy tickets for The Ashes
The ballots for Ashes tickets at all of the host grounds are now closed.
For further details and future opportunities to buy Ashes tickets, visit the ECB website.
Why is it called The Ashes?
The term originates from The Sporting Life newspaper, which in 1882 published a satirical obituary of English cricket after Australia had beaten England at The Oval – the first time the tourists won a game on English soil.
The piece stated that “the body [of English cricket] will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”
The following Test series was thus dubbed by the media as an attempt to win the ‘ashes’ of cricket back, with then-England cricket captain Ivo Bligh vowing to “regain those ashes.”
The name has stuck for well over a century.
Who won The Ashes in 2018?
Australia are current holders of The Ashes, having won the series in Australia in 2017-18 by four matches to nil.
Australia won all but the fourth Test in Melbourne, which ended in a draw.
Which team has won The Ashes the most times?
For a series that has gone on for more than 130 years, the overall tally is remarkably close.
In total there have been 70 series. Australia have won 33, England 32, and five have been drawn.
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from Radio Times http://bit.ly/2HcFfhn
