austraLasia 1677

2006 'Rupertswood' Cricket Ashes Challenges

MELBOURNE: 2nd November 2006 --  With the traditional England-Australia Cricket Ashes challenge in the offing,  not everyone is aware that the true home of the Ashes is in fact Salesian College 'Rupertswood', Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. Even though the famous 'Ashes' clash is an England-Australia affair, all other cricket-loving nations such as India, South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and more besides, have their eyes on this particular clash which takes place alternately in England or Australia.
    It was an Australian Salesian, now deceased, Fr Terry Jennings, who did much to promote the realisation that the 'ashes' actually came from the grounds of 'Rupertswood', the Salesian mother house of the Australian province. The year was 1882 and the date, Christmas Eve. Some months earlier, the unthinkable had happened; an Australian team for the first time had beaten England on English soil ('turf', more accurately). An English sports commentator wrote that it was 'the death of English cricket'! A return test series in Australia  for 1883 involved a friendly game at 'Rupertswood' some weeks beforehand, during which Ivo Bligh, the English captain, was presented with the 'ashes' of an item (never fully established which - a bail or a ball) from that game.  End of story?  Not at all - the two nations have battled annually for those Ashes ever since!
    November 12 this year sees another game at 'Rupertswood' involving cricketing greats from the two nations.  10,000 tickets are on sale. The game will not be part of the official Ashes tour. The 'Rupertswood' game must always retain its friendly character.
    Meanwhile, the two traditional sporting opponents on the local scene, Salesian College 'Rupertswood' and Salesian College Chadstone, have just battled it out on the same ground for the Terry Jennings Shield, in memory of a man who loved cricket, poetry, horse riding, 'Rupertswood' itself. Chadstone won the 30-over one day game this time.
   
GLOSSARY
cricket: sorry, not so easy to explain in one line! Google it!
in the offing: close by, about to happen.
turf: in the case of cricket, it is the specially prepared strip of ground stretching between the two wickets where batsmen stand.
bail: small piece of wood lying atop the wickets - if dislodged by the ball under various circumstances, a batsman is dismissed (out).
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