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| December 19, 2006 | Tuesday | Ziqa'ad 27, 1427 |
‘Urn should stay Down Under’
PERTH, Dec 18: Ricky Ponting has cheekily suggested the Ashes urn on display in Australia should remain there after his team regained the coveted trophy on Monday.
Although Australia have won more series than England since they started playing 124 years ago, the little brown pot urn is permanently based at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London.
Australian Cricket officials have long argued that the holder of the Ashes should be able to keep the urn but the MCC has always refused, saying it was too fragile to be moved.
However, they did agree to display the Ashes in Australia in 1988 to celebrate the bicentenary of European settlement and again as part of this series, after it underwent restoration work.
When Ponting was asked whether Australia should be allowed to keep the Ashes after wrapping up the series on Monday, the skipper could not resist a wisecrack.
“Surely it's got to be too frail to fly back,” he said.
“They've always said it's been too frail for it to fly out here. It's been here for a month now so it's got to be even worse. It would look quite good in Cricket Australia's office.”
The phrase “Ashes” was coined after England lost to Australia for the first time on home soil in August 1882.
The urn was scheduled to travel to Australia during the 2002-03 Ashes but the plan was aborted when cracks were discovered in the 10cm-tall vessel.
Restoration work was carried out before officials later reached an agreement allowing the urn to tour Australia during the current series.—Reuters
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