Shepparton's cricketers embarked on a 18-match tour of Britain some 40 years ago.
Shepparton’s cricketers embarked on a memorable 18-match tour of Great Britain some 40 years ago - playing its own Ashes test versus its namesake village in England.
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Back in 1986, Shepparton Cricket Club members made the 17,104 km journey to Shepperton in the County of Middlesex, England, for a historic meeting down on the banks of the River Thames.
Marking the landmark occasion, the visitors from Down Under even bestowed the hosts with an urn resembling the Ashes trophy, paying homage to the legendary biennial test series played between Australia and England.
Of course, the Ashes is eternally linked with the state of Victoria, with the iconic terracotta urn having first been presented to England captain Ivo Bligh at Rupertswood Mansion in Sunbury.
That landmark occasion came following Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, with this the first time the country had beaten England in its own back yard.
A contemporary report from the time in the British publication, The Sporting Times, subsequently featured a mock-obituary which bore the fabled words "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".
When the time came for England to attempt to avenge that defeat at the 1882–83 series in Australia, Three Lions skipper Bligh vowed to "regain those ashes" - with this remark echoing through history right through to the present day.
Over a century on from that major moment in the annals of sporting past, the clash between Shepparton versus Shepperton in 1986 represented the latest chapter in the long-running rivalry between the two nations when it comes to cricket supremacy.
Played in good harmony and spirit, the Shepperton hosts presented the visitors from Australia with a painting of its Russell Road ground to the Australian team.
Meanwhile, then-Spelthorne Mayor Gerry Ceaser presented the English side with a scroll containing greetings from the Shepparton Mayor all the way from Victoria.
Enjoying some rare barbecue weather in Middlesex, the two teams toasted an enjoyable afternoon of cricket with a cook-out as the hosts proved magnanimous in victory.
Looking back over the garland outing for the two sides from separate continents, the secretary of the Shepperton club, Tony Burton was sure that this rare occasion would be recalled for years to come.
“It’s something which will be remembered for a while,” he said.
After 40 years, there is no doubt that this unique spectacle has left its mark in both hemispheres.
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