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
Ron Hamence with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 stumped for 99, his highest score for the season. According to Bradman, Hamence "fell to what everyone said was the best ball all day". Nevertheless, Australia won by an innings and 374 runs. In the following match against the South of England, Hamence made seven as Australia declared at 7/522. The match was washed out; Hamence bowled three overs without success in the hosts' only innings. Australia's biggest challenge in the post-Test tour matches was the fixture against Leveson-Gower's XI. During the last tour in 1938, this team was effectively a full-strength England outfit, but this time Bradman insisted that