How an Australian made sure ‘the real Ashes trophy' finally made it to Lord's
Not to Bligh, though. After Dick Barlow bowled Tom Garrett to complete England's 'Ashes-winning' victory in the third match in Sydney in January, 1883, Bligh had souvenired the fallen bail and shaped it into a letter-opener, complete with ivory blade and an inscription noting the occasion it marked.
'ENGLAND V AUSTRALIA
JANUARY 26, 1883
ENGLAND WON
BY 69 RUNS
THIS BAIL
was knocked off
by the last ball
bowled
IN THE MATCH.'
This he presented to Lady Clarke, reciprocating the gesture of the ashes urn, but a later custodian of the letter opener, Ian Metherall, suspects it was also to maintain the favour of the Clarkes and a pretext to see Florence Morphy regularly, which he did.
Duly, Bligh proposed, Morphy accepted, but Lady Clarke advised prudence, noting the difference in their social stations and the fact that Bligh's parents in England had not been consulted. She wrote from experience; she herself had come from humble origins to marry Sir William and knew the invisible pitfalls. If Bligh's parents approve, she said, the Clarkes would be only too pleased to give the couple their blessing.
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Bligh returned to England, but the two artefacts of that series, the urn and the opener, remained with the Clarkes at Rupertswood. In the mind's eye, it's impossible not to see them sitting side-by-side on a mantlepiece somewhere in that grand mansion (elsewhere in its wings, some of Ned Kelly's armour lay, but that's another story for another day). Bligh came back to Melbourne the next summer with his parents' sanction and the Clarkes made a lavish production of his marriage to Morphy.
Eventually, the couple settled in England, taking with them the urn. At first, they struggled. As the second son of an earl, Bligh was not entitled and had little money until his older brother died, whereupon funds and comforts accrued, and the title of Lord Darnley. Morphy, now Lady Darnley, made the acquaintance of royalty and other notables, including Rudyard Kipling, and for her pastoral work during World War One was made a dame of the empire. When Bligh died in 1927, she donated the Ashes urn to Lord's. Less than two years later, Don Bradman would have clapped his eyes on it for the first time.
Meantime, the bail-cum-letter opener passed down through the line of the Clarke's descendants until it rested in a garage belonging to Metherall and his wife Rosemary, a great-granddaughter of the Clarkes, on their farm at Nagambie. Metherall, an importer/exporter, is also a collector of cricket memorabilia and, incidentally, cars. Rosemary's other grandfather was Essington Lewis, a former head of BHP and an arms manufacturer during World War One who sourced prized steel for General Motors to begin to build Holdens in Australia after World War Two. For his efforts, General Motors delivered to him the first Holden ever made in Australia, the hallowed 48-215.
Forerunning that car was a prototype built by GM in Detroit. Metherall and Rosemary at one estage had custody of both cars, each of which had travelled many miles before being restored by enthusiasts and finding their way via the Metherall collection to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in 2004. Metherall says not all in his family were best pleased with this outcome for these heirlooms.
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Enter – or re-enter - the bail. Driven to elevate its place in the Ashes narrative, but anxious not to cause further family tensions, Metherall says he bought the bail from them outright. He has since become the champion-in-chief of its paramountcy in the Ashes legend.
Since Bligh's descendants say the urn is not a cricket trophy, but a 'personal and romantic keepsake', Metherall regards the bail as a symbolic prize in its own right. He has his backers. 'The Bail is an object of equal importance and historical significance to the Darnley Urn as part of the early Ashes story,' wrote long-serving MCC librarian David Studham in 2011. 'Indeed, its status as a genuine artefact from a Test match on the 1882-83 tour makes it even more so. It is unique; no other bails from this first Ashes series are known to exist, and therefore none are held in any Australian public collections. It deserves to be retained in Australia as a significant item relating to such a key part of our sporting heritage, the battles for 'The Ashes'.'
Writing in the magazine Australiana in 2006, curator, publisher and broadcaster Tom Thompson was even more blunt. 'It is the real trophy,' he said, 'and as cricket memorabilia trumps the urn by being created from an actual stump gifted by the English captain. The Ashes urn is a faction.'
Metherall says his efforts to consecrate the bail's place in history have largely been stonewalled. For a time, he had it on display at the Australian Club and it appeared in the National Museum from 2006-2008. But the Melbourne Cricket Club museum rebuffed him in 2018, saying it had plenty enough Ashes curios; more would mean only clutter.
How near a relative the bail is to the urn and how much weight it should be accorded in the game's iconography is a matter of intrigue. Apart from anything else, it was fashioned from a verifiable piece of Ashes furniture, whereas doubts linger about the ashes in the Ashes. One of several theories that now can never be tested is that the urn was presented to Bligh twice, at Rupertswood before the series when it was empty, and again after the series, now containing the burnt remains of the other bail. If true, it would make the pairing irresistible. But we'll never know.
Metherall is not easily deterred. Eventually, he found a sympathetic ear in British broadcaster, actor and author Stephen Fry, a past president of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Still, there was a process. The bail is on the National Cultural Heritage Control list, so cannot leave the country without approval. Fortunately, at the Australian end, this was obtained in 24 hours. But British bureaucracy tied up that end like a county medium-pacer. Metherall says he risked a long jail term or a massive fine if he tried to fly it into England without the necessary permissions, because the blade is made of ivory, a prohibited import.
A plan to deliver it in February had to be scrapped, but after three months of wrangling, the paperwork finally came through, and Metherall and his precious cargo made their way to London last week, first class (seat 1A), of course.
The bail was handed over to Lord's last week and is now on display alongside the venerable urn, together again for the first time since their Rupertswood days.
In explaining what he sees as the bail's historic significance vis a vis the urn, Metherall likens it to the pair of historic Holdens he once owned: each tells part of the whole tale. Metherall also says the whole Ashes mystique has been forever misrepresented. 'People don't understand that the Ashes story is not about a little urn,' he said. 'It's actually a love story, between the captain and a pauper.'
Bligh suffered frequent ill-health and did not play Test cricket again after that 1882-3 series. The four matches he played then comprise his whole Test career. Its substance is an aggregate of 62 runs, with a top score of 19. Concerning a man who has such venerable place in cricket history, this reads modestly. But like the letter opener he shaped from the bail, it is a humble token that embodies a grand idea that is cherished to this day.
As for Metherall, while championing the past, he does not live there. Next on his plate is a project to import unmanned aerial vehicles.
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