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50 free The Ashes trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Ashes began as a joke. After Australia beat England at The Oval in 1882, a London paper ran a mock obituary for English cricket and promised the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. Ivo Bligh vowed to bring them back, some Melbourne ladies burned a bail and put it in a small urn, and the most famous trophy in cricket — which is not actually the trophy — was born. This quiz covers the whole story. You'll answer questions on the 1882 match and Fred Spofforth's 'This thing can be done', on the urn and where it lives, on Bodyline and the diplomatic row it caused, on Bradman's final duck and The Invincibles, Laker's 19 wickets, Botham and Willis at Headingley, Warne's Ball of the Century, the two-run Edgbaston thriller of 2005, Cook's 766 runs, Stokes's 135 and Broad's last ball. Easy questions ask who plays and how often. Hard ones ask for the name of England's last man in 1882. Fifty questions, every one sourced. Play and retain.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which two countries contest the Ashes?
England and Australia
The series is played roughly every two years, hosted by each country in turn.
Q 02In which newspaper did the 1882 mock obituary for English cricket appear?
The Sporting Times
Reginald Shirley Brooks wrote that the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
Q 03At which ground did Australia win the 1882 Test that inspired the Ashes legend?
The Oval
It was Australia's first Test win on English soil, by seven runs.
Q 04Which Australian fast bowler declared 'This thing can be done' before destroying England in 1882?
Fred Spofforth
He took his last four wickets for two runs; the crowd chaired him and Boyle to the pavilion.
Q 05Who was England's last batsman, bowled for two with ten needed, in the 1882 Test?
Ted Peate
He joked that he had no confidence in his partner Studd, one of England's best batsmen, so thought he had better do his best.
Q 06Which England captain vowed to 'recover those ashes' on the 1882-83 tour?
Ivo Bligh
He later became Lord Darnley; his widow gave the urn to the MCC after his death in 1927.
Q 07The urn's contents are most likely the ashes of what?
A wooden bail
A 2006 MCC official put it at '95% certain', discounting a family story that it was a lady's veil.
Q 08Where is the original Ashes urn permanently kept?
The MCC Museum at Lord's
It is a private memento, never awarded to either side, and has travelled to Australia only three times.
Q 09The Ashes Trophy presented since 1998-99 is made of what?
Waterford Crystal
It is a larger replica of the urn, commissioned because the MCC would not let the fragile original travel.
Q 10Roughly how tall is the original urn?
About 6 inches
It is terracotta and may originally have been a perfume jar; X-rays in 2006 found cracked handles.
Q 11What happens to the Ashes if a series is drawn?
The holders retain them
That is how Australia kept them after the 2–2 draw of 2023, having won in 2021-22.
Q 12Which captain's 1903 tour and book How We Recovered the Ashes revived the term for good?
Pelham Warner
For twenty years after Bligh the phrase had largely vanished; Wisden first mentioned it in 1905.
Q 13In which city was the first-ever Test match played, in 1877?
Melbourne
The Ashes legend itself only started five years later, after the ninth Test.
Q 21What nickname was given to Bradman's unbeaten 1948 touring side?
The Invincibles
Bradman turned 40 during the tour, his last of England.
Q 22Len Hutton's then world-record 364 came at The Oval in 1938 as England made how many?
903 for 7
It was a 'timeless' Test, with no limit on the number of days.
Q 23How many wickets did Jim Laker take in the 1956 Manchester Test?
19
He bowled 68 of England's 191 overs; Tony Lock took the only other wicket.
Q 24Who replaced Ian Botham as England captain before the 1981 Headingley Test?
Q 14Which Australian captain's side inflicted a 5–0 whitewash in 1920-21?
Warwick Armstrong
Australia won eight Tests in a row in that stretch; the next 5–0 did not come until 2006-07.
Q 15Which England captain adopted the Bodyline tactic in 1932-33?
Douglas Jardine
He called it 'leg theory'; Australians renamed it for the line of the body it aimed at.
Q 16At which London hotel did Jardine plan the Bodyline tactic with Larwood and Voce?
The Piccadilly
Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr was at the table too; the aim was to curb Bradman's run-scoring.
Q 17Which Nottinghamshire fast bowler was Jardine's main Bodyline weapon?
Harold Larwood
Diplomats had to intervene to calm Anglo-Australian relations; Larwood later emigrated to Australia.
Q 18How many fielders may stand behind square on the leg side under the 1957 law change?
Two
The rule was aimed at negative leg-side bowling, a legacy of the Bodyline furore.
Q 19Bradman needed how many runs in his final innings to average exactly 100?
Four
Eric Hollies bowled him second ball with a googly for a duck, leaving the average at 99.94.
Q 20Which bowler dismissed Bradman for a duck in his last Test innings?
Eric Hollies
The wrist-spinner's googly went between bat and pad at The Oval in 1948.
Mike Brearley
Botham's 12 Tests in charge had produced no wins and a pair at Lord's.
Q 25What was Botham's unbeaten score in England's second innings at Headingley in 1981?
149
He came in at 105 for 5 following on; his six sixes stood as an Ashes record until Ben Stokes in 2019.
Q 26Who took 8 for 43 to win the 1981 Headingley Test for England?
Bob Willis
Brearley switched him to bowl down the slope, and Australia went from 56 for 1 to 111 all out.
Q 27In the final Ashes Test of 1981 Botham took five for 11 to win by how many runs?
29
That was the fourth Test at Edgbaston, where his spell included five wickets for a single run.
Q 28What was the final result of the 1981 series, from England's point of view?
Won 3–1
England had been 1–0 down after two Tests before winning the next three.
Q 29Who was bowled by Shane Warne's 'Ball of the Century' in 1993?
Mike Gatting
It was Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket, pitching outside leg and clipping the off bail at Old Trafford.
Q 30Warne's only Test hat-trick came in an Ashes Test at which ground?
The MCG
The Boxing Day 1994 victims were DeFreitas, Gough and Malcolm, the last caught by David Boon.