Cricket's Burning Passion

When England's cricketers lost the Oval Test against Australia in the summer of 1882, it triggered a number of cynical comments in the press. The "Sporting Times" stated that 'the body of English cricket had been cremated'. Within a few short months, England had regained the mythical Ashes when the 1882/83 touring party, led by the Hon. Ivo Bligh, later Earl of Darnley, won the Test series 2-1. On the tour, Bligh met a young Australian piano teacher, Florence Morphy, whom he later married. When England's series victory was completed, she presented him with an urn containing the ashes of a bail she had burnt. This is not yet public knowledge, but the authors have authentic documents to substantiate the claim. The book will not be a work of biography but will expand the reader's knowledge of its two very unorthodox main characters. It will describe events of the 1882/83 tour but importantly will describe the role played by Florence, Countess of Darnley, who, in 1882, was 21 years of age and seeking her fortune. Rupert Peploe, the great grandson of Ivo Bligh, has had access to previously unseen diaries of Bligh and his wife as well as hundreds of letters and family memorabilia.