History of Australia (1851–1900) will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". The English media then dubbed the next English tour to Australia (1882–83) as the quest to "regain the ashes". The tradition continues with The Ashes series remaining one of the most anticipated events on the international cricketing calendar. The first reports of a sport like rugby being played in Australia date back to the 1820s when visiting ship crews would play army teams in Sydney. However, it was in 1864, that the first formal club was formed at Sydney University. From this beginning, the first metropolitan competition in Australia developed, formally
United South of England Eleven series when the USEE played against the official North of England cricket team on 6 & 7 September 1880. The North's team in this match at Rotherham bore little resemblance to the UNEE but, nevertheless, the official North hammered another nail into the coffin of the unofficial USEE with a 53 run victory. The USEE had earlier played in two other first-class matches. These were in June 1874, when they played Yorkshire in Bradford; and May 1876 when they played the All-England Eleven (AEE) at Lord's. The USEE lost both these matches. Yorkshire beat them by 26 runs. They lost