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
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in 2004 sixth and last in the Midlands/Wales/West group which was not high enough to proceed from the league stage to the quarter finals. Gloucestershire won one match in the group stage, lost three and had one no-result. County Championship Division One (4-day match) Kent (16pts) beat Gloucestershire (3pts) by 7 wickets University Centres of Cricketing Excellence (3-day match) Match Drawn National League Division One (45-over match) Kent (4pts) beat Gloucestershire (0pts) by 1 run National League Division One (45-over match) Glamorgan (4pts) beat Gloucestershire (0pts) by 8 wickets Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy 2nd Round (50-over match) Gloucestershire won by 72 runs