Under the Southern Cross: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the Ashes in Australia

Description

The enigmatic trophy that bears Test cricket's historic soul is also one of international sport's most emblematic. Over 140 years, the tiny terracotta Ashes urn has witnessed the rise of champions and heroes, villains and the vilified. Beyond the lush surrounds of Lord's, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and The Oval lies a continent apart, where 'history' is replaced by 'yarns', and polite silences are instead filled with good-natured barracking.Playing on an Australian ground means facing more than just an eternal rival: scorching extremes in weather wear at the body, while equally blistering commentary from the crowds - reproach and reverence in equal measure - challenges the spirit. For England and Australia, there is no greater test than those that decide the Ashes and there are no battlegrounds quite like those that Australians call home. This illustrated history celebrates the greatest moments of the Ashes in Australia: from Bannerman's first fending of Shaw's opening delivery in 1877, to Cowdrey's courageous defence in the face of Thomson's fastbowling almost 100 years later; from Lord Harris's near-encounter with a young Banjo Paterson, to Maclagan's all-round superiority in the inaugural Women's Ashes; and from Trumble's unsurpassed dual hat-trick at the turn of the century, to Warne's own hat-trick, bowling eyes closed, before the dawn of a new one. These are the moments where history was made, and spawn the yarns that will endure when all else has turned to ashes.

Cricket Australia (CA) is the custodian of cricket in Australia. Cricket Australia is made up of six member associations: Cricket New South Wales, Queensland Cricket, South Australian Cricket Association, Tasmanian Cricket Association, Cricket Victoria, and Western Australian Cricket Association. The Australian Capital Territory Cricket Association and the Northern Territory Cricket Association are non-member associations. Andrew Ramsey is a journalist and author who has written about cricket for more than 20 years. In addition to having his work published in numerous newspapers around the world including The Australian, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, he has been a contributor to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. He has covered around 100 Test matches including a number of Ashes series in Australia and England, among them the 2005 campaign in the United Kingdom regarded as the 'greatest Ashes battle of the modern era' and Australia's dual 5-0 whitewash summers on home soil in 2006-07 and 2013-14. His book The Wrong Line, which chronicles the travails of the travelling cricket writer, was published in 2012. He is currently Senior Writer with cricket.com.au and, when not ensconced in a press box or an airport, lives in Adelaide, South Australia.