What is the Ashes cricket series

Australia and England have enjoyed a fierce cricketing rivalry for over 140 years. The latest edition of the clash known as the Ashes starts in Perth on Friday.

WHY IS THE SERIES CALLED THE ASHES?

The name has its origins in a mock obituary in a British newspaper that mourned the death of English cricket following a loss to a touring team from the then Australian colonies in 1882. "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia," it lamented.

England captain Ivo Bligh fulfilled a pledge to "recover those ashes" when he led the team to a series win in Australia a few months later.

The teams play for a crystal trophy and a replica of a tiny terracotta urn presented to Bligh which is on permanent display at Lord's cricket ground in London, the spiritual home of the game.

If the series is drawn, the holders retain the Ashes.

WHY IS THE RIVALRY SO PASSIONATE?

Originally a children's game, cricket was codified in England in the 1740s and successfully exported around the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Early English teams with the means to undertake the long journey to Australia were invariably "gentlemen", while their opponents were settlers, not all voluntary, toiling in tough conditions on the fringes of the empire.

Touring England teams would find a hostile media and rowdy crowds laden with chancers, gamblers and the children of transported convicts keen to see them fail.

Controversies, most notably the "Bodyline" series of the 1930s which threatened diplomatic relations between the two nations, have continued at regular intervals to keep the competitive fire alive.

Ashes series alternate between the English and Australian summers at roughly two-year intervals.  There are five test matches in different cities across Australia