The true origin of the Ashes - which English and Australian cricket teams have contested since 1882 - is not an incinerated cricket ball, as had been widely believed, but the remains of a woman's veil, a report said yesterday.

The London Evening Standard newspaper said the veil had been worn by Australian society beauty Florence Murphy, and was burned as a sign of affection for the England captain Ivo Bligh, whom she later married.

The Ashes came into being after a mock Sporting Times report of a defeat by Australia of England at the Oval in London in 1882.

The newspaper wrote an obituary of the team, saying its ashes would be cremated and the body taken to Australia.