Editing The Ashes (section)

===1897 to 1902===
Australia resoundingly won the 1897–98 series by 4–1 under the captaincy of [[Harry Trott]]. His successor [[Joe Darling]] won the next three series in 1899, 1901–02, and the [[Australian cricket team in England in 1902|classic 1902 series]], which became one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket.

Five matches were played in 1902 but the first two were drawn after being hit by bad weather. In the First Test (the first played at [[Edgbaston Cricket Ground|Edgbaston]]), after scoring 376 England bowled out Australia for 36 ([[Wilfred Rhodes]] 7/17) and reduced them to 46–2 when they followed on. Australia won the Third and Fourth Tests at [[Bramall Lane]] and [[Old Trafford Cricket Ground|Old Trafford]] respectively. At Old Trafford, Australia won by just 3 runs after [[Victor Trumper]] had scored 104 on a "bad wicket", reaching his hundred before lunch on the first day. England won the last Test at [[The Oval]] by one wicket. Chasing 263 to win, they slumped to 48–5 before [[Gilbert Jessop]]'s 104 gave them a chance. He reached his hundred in just 75 minutes. The last-wicket pair of [[George Herbert Hirst|George Hirst]] and Rhodes were required to score 15 runs for victory. When Rhodes joined him, Hirst reportedly said: "We'll get them in singles, Wilfred." In fact, they scored thirteen singles and a two.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 June 2019 |title=Wisden, 1974 edition – The glorious uncertainty |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152487.html |website=espncricinfo.com |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220123247/https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152487.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The period of Darling's captaincy saw the emergence of outstanding Australian players such as Trumper, [[Warwick Armstrong]], [[James Kelly (cricketer)|James Kelly]], [[Monty Noble]], [[Clem Hill]], [[Hugh Trumble]] and [[Ernie Jones (Australian sportsman)|Ernie Jones]].