England have won the Ashes for the first time since 1989.
The Ashes (amateur fan site here, wikipedia here) are the regular series of test [international, five day long] cricket matches between England and Australia.
By way of keeping my mostly American readers up with the old Empire, take my word that this is a major, major sporting and cultural event. It's probably not quite up there with the Miracle on Ice as far as the international-political overtones of the contest, but cricket—unlike ice hockey—is a sport with long-term, nation-wide popularity in both countries.
Baseball, sadly, lacks these emotional international contests—making up for it with passionate urban rivalries—so there's no good comparison there. At least in Australia, cricket is the national game, as the football codes are fragmented regionally. (Another topic entirely).
Posted by robe0419 at September 12, 2005 2:45 PM