Australia–England sports rivalries between Australia and England but the three nations of England, Scotland and Wales competed under the English flag up until 1992 when the Scots began to compete independently. Welsh cricket players continue to compete for England with Simon Jones being a recent example of a Welsh player competing for England in the 2005 Ashes series. The first Ashes series was contested in 1884. Following England's home Test defeat in 1882, English journalist Reginald Shirley Brooks wrote a mock obituary for "The Sporting Times" that notified the public of English cricket's death and stated ""The body and contents will be cremated
English cricket team in Australia in 1970–71 England player to make a century on debut at Lord's, 107 against the West Indies in 1969, but never made another and was dropped after a short Test career. England's lower middle order added real strength with the wicket-keeper Alan Knott worth his place for his perky, unorthodox batting alone. Skipper Ray Illingworth made 476 runs (52.89) against the Rest of the World in 1970 and did well again in Australia. John Snow began and ended his cricketing life as a batsman and in 1969-71 averaged 34.50 in Tests, so could be regarded as another all-rounder. "I have not met