England have retained the Ashes ...

[Captin Kirk]

best quote I have read so far ... (shamelessly lifted from the BBC website) ...

From Hugh, 23, Wales: "My old man just informed me 'the last time this happened, you were being conceived'. Just ruined my Ashes moment for me."

[ELVIS68]

Still broccoli though, the Darts will get more support

[Buenchico]

I'm glad that you used the word 'retained', rather than 'won'. I won't consider that England have really won the Ashes until they win the series. Roll on Sydney!

[Buenchico]

Hmmm:
I've just read Elvis' post. I'm trying to decide which one of us is pishted!!!

[Theland1]

yippee! an' all that. Maybe I'll give the cat another sachet of food to celebrate.
My life may never be the same.

[Buenchico]

The Ozzies will probably get the last laugh, though. The final match of the tour is a one day international on a wicket which the England batsmen might not enjoy, in Perth!

[mike11111]

From a purely semantic point of view, you can't 'win' something you already possess. Even if England win the series, they will still retain the Ashes, they won't have 'won' them, just the series. To win them, they will have to lose them first.

[Captin Kirk]

I don't even particularly follow cricket but I think this thread may have been wasted in CB lol

[Buenchico]

Mike:
So you don't think that Chelsea could "win" the FA Cup in 2011, only "retain" it?

I would interpret "winning the cup" as a form of 'verbal shorthand' for "winning the cup competition".

So, for me, "winning the Ashes" means "winning the Ashes series".

[mike11111]

Slightly different scenario. The FA cup is only held for one year and is then returned to the FA to be played for again, with many teams competing. The Ashes series is always between the same two teams, and if the holders draw or win the series they retain the Ashes. Should they lose them, the other side 'wins' them. As I said at the beginning, mere semantics.

[Theland1]

I feel better now ........

[Buenchico]

I've just heard an England player (James Anderson) stop midway through a sentence and correct himself. He was going to say how great it felt to 'win' the Ashes but he substituted 'retain' instead. Perhaps he's thinking like me?

[nonomaybe]

Well Captain Kirk, I think the expression "one piece jigsaw" is my pick so far.

[horseshoes]

Apparently, I was conceived during the 1953 FA Cup Final between Blackpool and Bolton! I've never been sure why my Mum thought I needed to know that.

[nonomaybe]

Well Captain Kirk, I rather like the expression "one piece jigsaw", which I read for the first time on one of the BBC sites.I did think that the aside from Father to Son was a perhaps a little too much information although amusing.

[DTCwordfan]

The comment is great - I was at first stumped by it.
Is Hugh a bail-iff?
Was he born a hermaphrodite - i.e. with no balls?

[starone]

Who cares who was conceived and when? As one who does not know much about cricket, although forced to play it at school many years ago and who does not follow it on tv, have we retained the ashes, or won them whatever, or is there still games to play to make sure? I am a great supporter of England whatever the situation so if it is definite I will get the flags out, but I do not want to look a nitwit and have to get them back in again. P.S. I am female, although I had to play cricket at school, so you will realise why I am not very enthusiastic about the game but greatly so about winning it.

[starone]

Bad grammar should have been "are" there games to play, not is. Sorry!

[Invictas]

Boring