Join us for the England Project vs Australia Project Ashes Cricket Challenge!

Question

Hello Australia Project and England Project members,

It’s time to unveil our latest sporting challenge!

The England Project has challenged the Australia Project to a rematch of the 1882 England v Australia cricket match that began the Ashes test cricket tradition.

The aim of the Challenge is to create, source and connect WikiTree profiles for the 22 cricketers and two umpires who walked onto the field in this historic cricket match.

It's very easy to join the fun! You pick a player, create a profile (if one doesn’t exist), source it and then connect it to the global tree. Australia Project members compete for Australia, and England Project members for England. If you’re a member of both projects, you will need to decide where your loyalties lie!

You can read more and get started here: England v Australia Ashes Challenge

The Challenge begins NOW (subject to the handicap rules explained below).

As the England Project has more members than the Australia Project, the Project Leaders have agreed on a few extra rules to make the Challenge more evenly balanced.  The main things you need to know are:

1. Australia gets a head start of 9 hours. It begins on Friday at 9am Sydney time and England begins on Friday at 9am London time.
2. England members with a Connectors badge are not allowed to begin connecting their players until Saturday at 9am London time. They are welcome to start sourcing and biobuilding on Friday.
3. England must complete the two umpires in addition to its 11 players. (The umpires were both English anyway!)

All Australia Project and England Project members are welcome! But player spaces are limited. It’s first-come, first-served - so get your name down now!

All participants will get a limited edition Ashes urn sticker to put on their own profiles :)

Please feel free to use this G2G post to ask any questions, give updates and encourage your team.

May the best team win!

Ian, Membership Coordinator, England Project

Comments

WG Grace to the rescue yet again but Rosalie, not to be outdone went for Bonnor. A Bonzer!

At 4-3 the Aussies still look favourites but the atmosphere has got a bit heavy and could favour the English seamers, we shall see!

---

It's good to see we've kept to the original script. England went into the match brimming with confidence and thinking it could beat the Aussies with one arm tied behind its back. And just like the 1882 match, England underestimated its opponent and the match has descended into a tense waiting game—as England tries to hold on until 9am London time (6pm Sydney time), when it's allowed to bring out its Connectors.

---

Indeed, confusion and controversy reign. Is Bonnor connected or not? Has someone tampered with his ball icon?

Where are the umpires in all of this? They are Poms so surely that should count for something?

---

The third umpire has been called in to review whether or not GJ Bonnor is out. For now, we should assume that he is not connected.

---

Bonnor was connected. I just found a large part of his bio was unsourced, and for a while there I couldn't find the source. So I rewrote the bio.

Answer 1

I'll be there in 9 hours time!

Answer 2

Good morning Ian

Thanks for organising this challenge. We are very excited to be involved.

Gillian

Answer 3

Thanks Ian - hope I can get involved tomorrow!!

Answer 4

OK Aussies, the England reply to your first innings lead is just about to start!

Comments

CT Studd is connected etc.

I can see a path for AG Steel to connect via my Notley relatives . Just have to add the profiles.  

WG Grace is already connected.  One of my grandmother’s cousins was named Grace because WG was present at the birth, being their local doctor.

---

Hogsflesh is coming in to bowl for England

---

Thanks Joe. WG Grace combined cricket and medicine too. When a spectator collapsed on the second day of the test match, he was soon on the spot to give medical assistance (although, unfortunately, could not save him),

Answer 5

The pitch was carefully prepared, trampled flat by a couple of local navvies, given a penny for their troubles.The umpires duly arrived for pitch inspection and after clearing a few broken clay pipes declared all to be ready.

The England team got off to a slow start, only Joe getting dug in before breakfast. In the meantime wickets are starting to fall and the Aussie fast bowlers Leandra and Gillian are smashing their way through.

It’s looking grim for England.

It looks like

Comments

Not too grim!! We are plugging away, but at the moment TP Horan is looking like he doesn't want to cooperate in being connected!!

---

We are a bit hampered by the Aussies having sportingly tied up all our connectors

Answer 6

I am having a go. Taking on an umpire. I have put my name against it, although someone took it off. I am a connector, so I can't put 'pen-to-paper' til Saturday.

Comments

Welcome Dave! I'm not sure if your name was taken off on purpose or by accident. You're allowed to put pen to paper today, as long as it's limited to sourcing/biobuilding for the player/umpire. You're just not allowed to work on connecting him up until tomorrow.

Answer 7

More wickets down and the Aussies have led the way. Some tremendous field play, but have they tired themselves out? Looks like there are a few stonewalled players out there.

The English though outplayed until now are just waking up and going into full swing. Will it be all over by the morning?

Answer 8

Please will someone take over on William Barnes please? Just about to have dinner! His bio is done, but needs connecting.

Comments

We'd love to Jo, but most of us taking part are connectors so we can't help until after 9am tomorrow morning. I think by then Australia will have won, as currently they only have 2 more to connect.

---

That’s my feeling too. With the Aussies way ahead, I’m sourcing profiles non-connectors have added

---

Carol, you are allowed to source if you want to.

Answer 9

Gone through the Australian team and added to the presentation a little. Highlighted persons name at start of Biography. Made sure there is active links to parents and spouse, where profiles exist. Made sure sources have a title. Good luck with the rest. Also constructed basic biography for Joey Palmer, but needs sources.

Comments

Nice work Ben! Thanks for your help.

---

Having just had a look through the finished profiles, English and Australian, I think it makes a huge difference. Highlighting the persons name at the start, helps your eye find the start of the biograph. Linking in other people helps you spot them easily when scanning down. And giving titles to the sources, makes it much easier to see what is being demonstrated in each source.

Whoever has done the work for the English team, has put a tonne of work in, and some nice tables, but I think those three things above, which they haven't done, would have made a big difference too.

Answer 10

Someone for the Australia team needs to make sure Bonnor is finished, and give him the bat and ball icon.

Answer 11

The umpires have confirmed that GJ Bonnor is properly connected to the global tree.

That means that the Australia Project has finished all of its 11 players first. Fabulous work! Congratulations!!

But the Challenge is not over yet. The England Project is not far behind, having finished 9 of its 13 players and umpires so far. Still three players and one umpire left to go!

Comments

Working on Greenwood, but anyone can jump in and have a go.

---

Update on Greenwood (Umpire). Full sourced info for him, his wife and 1 child. Added a brother Job (Whose son was a Test Cricketer), and a sister Mary Hannah,who married a Yorkshire Cricketer. Even worked out his mother, but not added yet.

All the clues are there for wives and children. Feel free to jump in. I am taking a break now.

---

Dick Barlow and Billy Barnes are now connected. Only two left: JM Read and umpire Luke Greenwood.

---

Thanks everyone for a fantastic challenge.

Dave, I'll take a look at Greenwood again tomorrow. I was looking today without progress. I'll get back to you if I find a way to connect him up. Gillian

---

Dave, I've started looking at the family of Alice Townsend, wife of Andrew Greenwood (Greenwood-3634), but haven't got anywhere useful yet.

---

Just letting you know that I'm still working on Luke Greenwood. Will let you know if I see any promising connection.

Answer 12

SUCCESS  Greenwood finally connected, through the first husband of his nephews mother-in-law.

A big cheer to all that chipped in and added to the family.

Comments

Well done Dave! Great work.

---

Fantastic Dave! I skipped over him to link up another unconnected family and then got bogged down on quarry workers and weavers from Elland, Yorkshire. Having now connected rowers, footballers and various other sportspeople, I think cricketers have been the most challenging so far.

Thank you for all your help too Gillian :)

---

I have a heap of research on Ancestry that hit dead ends looking for that elusive Greenwood connection. Now Greenwood is connected I'll add it in. It will help fill the hole in that part of Yorkshire!!

Answer 13

Hello everyone!

I am very pleased to announce that we have now finished ALL of the 22 players and 2 umpires from the historic 1882 England v Australia cricket match.

And just like the original match, the winner is AUSTRALIA!

A huge thank you to EVERYONE who took part in the Challenge and helped to make it a success. Looking through the profiles of the players, umpires and their families, I am amazed with how much we have collectively achieved in just over two days!

You will receive your Ashes participant’s sticker in the next day or so - so watch your inboxes :)

Fantastic work everyone!!

Ian, Membership Coordinator, England Project

Comments

Thanks Ian. It's been a wonderful event!

---

A great event. They say that history can repeat itself, and so the Aussies win again. Time to burn the bails I think.

---

It was a lot of fun and a great way to learn more about Wikitree