Cricket: Ashes bound for Australia, but not for long

Australia's hold on cricket's Ashes is not as strong as they would like, but at least the little urn is not far away from arriving in Australia.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the protector of the sacred little trophy, has confirmed the Ashes urn will tour Australia with the England side in the summer of 2006-07.

But it won't be staying 'down under'.

Regardless of who wins this series or the next, there are no plans for the Ashes to be taken from its permanent home, in the museum behind the Lord's pavilion in London.

The Ashes were last in Australia in 1988 to coincide with the celebrations commemorating the bicentenary of English settlement.

It was meant to come out with the last England cricket tour, in 2002-03, but tiny fractures were detected in the urn, which made the trip too hazardous.

MCC spokesman Iain Wilton said now that the urn had been repaired, it was ready to be sent to Australia.

"We're just in the process of establishing with Cricket Australia the details of the trip," he said.

The MCC and Cricket Australia are yet to determine how long the Ashes will stay in Australia and whether the urn will be taken on a tour across the country.

The MCC is also discussing the trip with its insurers and security advisers.

The MCC has been the guardian of the Ashes since 1927, when they were presented to the club by the wife of former England captain Ivo Bligh.

Bligh was presented with an urn containing the burned remains of a bail by some Australian ladies in 1882, just as the England cricket side were about to leave Australia.

Bligh and one of those ladies, Florence Rose Morphy, later married and lived in Kent, in the southeast of England, and it was there that the trophy remained until his death.

The winners of the current series will be presented with a large crystal replica trophy to the urn housed at Lord's.

- AAP