THERE has been a new twist to the story of how cricket's celebrated 'Ashes' came into being, writes Richard Prime.

A long-overlooked silver tray, presented by England captain, the Hon Ivo Bligh, to Australian cricket benefactors the Clarke family to hold the celebrated Ashes urn, was recently been put up for auction in Sydney.

The current Earl of Darnley, Bligh's grandson, who lives near Stoke Bliss, has been leading the battle to ensure that the Ashes urn, which he regards as a romantic keepsake rather than a sporting trophy, remains at Lord's.

The view has been widely expressed in Australia that, given their current supremacy in the contest, the famous urn should now reside 'Down Under'.

The Earl's argument seems to have been vindicated by the discovery of the tray, surely a more authentic sporting trophy, and also by the discovery of a bail from the Melbourne Test of 1882-3, crafted into a letter opener on Bligh's instruction and presented to the Clarkes. The bail is still in the possession of a branch of the Clarke family.

This may also partly explain the confusion over the contents of the Ashes urn, which in some versions of the story was believed to contain the burnt remains of a bail rather than its actual contents - the ashes of a burnt veil.

The tray, bearing the engraved signatures of the eight amateurs in the England team, seems to have been forgotten by the cricketing fraternity.

Its fame, however, looked to have been assured late last month when it came up for auction in New South Wales with an expected price tag of between 200,000 and 300,000 Australian dollars.

However, the bidding failed to reach the required level at the Lawson Menzies auction house in Sydney and the tray remained unsold.