to recover the ashes
Preserved but no longer current.
A cricket term applied to the England- Australia cricket seasons played alternately in the two countries, the "ashes" being the mythical prize contended for. When England was beaten in 1882 a humorous epitaph on English cricket appeared in a sporting journal, and it wound up with the remark that " the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." There are seyeral more or less fabulous embroideries of this story.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to recover the ashes” mean?
A cricket term applied to the England- Australia cricket seasons played alternately in the two countries, the "ashes" being the mythical prize contended for. When England was beaten in 1882 a humorous epitaph on English cricket appeared in a sporting journal, and it wound up with the remark that " the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." There are seyeral more or less fabulous embroideries of this story.
Is “to recover the ashes” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.