MCC Travelex Ashes Exhibition attracts over 105,000 visitors
Date released: 21 January 2007
The MCC Travelex Ashes Exhibition closed yesterday, in Hobart, having been viewed by over 105,000 visitors on its fourteen-week, six-state tour of Australia. The Exhibition opened at the Museum of Sydney on 21st October last year. Since then, it has visited six other museums, in all of the Australian state capitals.
The centrepiece of the Exhibition, the Ashes Urn, will now return to its home at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. The perpetual trophy for the Ashes Series – the Waterford Crystal MCC Ashes Trophy, which was presented to Ricky Ponting at the end of the Sydney Test – will be delivered tomorrow morning (Tuesday 23rd January) to the offices of Cricket New South Wales, where it will be kept until the Commonwealth Bank one-day international on 2nd February. It will then be collected by representatives of Cricket Australia, who will take care of it until the next series, in England, in 2009.
MCC Secretary & Chief Executive, Keith Bradshaw (right), said: “I am delighted that so many people have taken the opportunity to view the MCC Travelex Ashes Exhibition, and the Ashes Urn. This is only the second time that the Urn has visited Australia since its creation one hundred and twenty four years ago, and the first time that it has undertaken such a comprehensive touring exhibition anywhere in the world. We have been overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm of the Australian public.”
James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, said:“Cricket Australia was delighted that MCC and Travelex put together such a great Exhibition and gave many thousands of Australians the opportunity to view the Urn in their home country. While we would love the Urn to remain in Australia, we understand the history and heritage of this tiny artefact. If anything, its permanent residence at Lord’s adds to the mystique of the competition that it has come to represent.”
Martin Crawford, Regional Managing Director, Travelex, the world's largest foreign exchange specialist and a proud supporter of cricket since 2001, said: "As international tour sponsor to the Australian Test team, we have a strong interest in promoting the game wherever it is played around the world. We were delighted to work with MCC to bring this idea to life. For us, it has been another successful foreign exchange!"
MCC developed The Ashes Exhibition in association with Travelex, and in partnership with the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales. The Exhibition was on display at the Museum of Sydney (21st Oct-8th Nov); the Queensland Museum South Bank (12th-22nd Nov); the South Australian Museum (26th Nov-6th Dec); the Western Australian Museum (10th-20th Dec); the Melbourne Museum (23rd Dec-7th Jan ’07); the Melbourne Cricket Ground Museum (9th-14th Jan); and the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery (18th-21st Jan).
This is the first time that MCC has developed an Exhibition tour of this scale. The Club regularly considers requests from organisations to loan artefacts from its Collection; each request is considered on its merits.