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AUSTRALIA-ENGLAND-JOUSTING-EQUESTRIAN-OFFBEAT
Australia win the inaugural ‘Ashes’ of jousting against England
LEIGH CREEK, Australia, Nov 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Australia and England took
their storied sports rivalry to another level, and another century, this
weekend as the two nations faced off in a jousting tournament, won by the
Australian side Sunday.
Dubbed the “Ashes” of jousting — a reference to the historic cricket Test
matches between the two countries — three Australian “knights” bested a trio
of English counterparts over two days of competition in a small town in rural
Victoria state.
Dressed head-to-toe in medieval-style armour an mounted on steeds sporting
skirts in team colours, the competitors charged one another on opposite sides
of a barrier, scoring points if they could break their wooden lances against
the opponent’s torso — one point for a broken lance, three points if it
shatters.
Australia took top honours in the inaugural version of the tournament with
89 points to 75 for England.
Hoping this weekend’s joust will become a tradition, organisers modelled
their trophy on cricket’s Ashes urn, which carries the remains of cricket
bails burned after Australia defeated England in a Test in 1882.
It has become the symbolic trophy of the two countries’ biannual cricket
Test matches.
Not to be outdone, Sunday’s jousters burned some of the lance tips broken
off during their competition and put them in a small vase as the Australians’
trophy.
“The next Ashes will be taking place in England in two years time and
they’ll have the chance to win the trophy and take it over there,” said Phil
Leitch, the Australian captain.
Despite the homage to cricketing history, Leitch doesn’t think the sporting
events are really on an equal footing.
“I think it’s 100 times more exciting than watching cricket — seeing men
on horses each traveling at about 40 kilometres an hour, hearing the crack of
the lance, seeing pieces of wood go flying in the air … that’s much more
exciting for me than cricket,” he told AFP.
Historical jousting has been popular in England for decades, said England
captain Andy Deane, but “unbeknownst to us, (on) the other side of the
planet, Australians are doing the same.”
“All in all great result for Australia,” concluded Leitch. “And hopefully
in a couple of years we’ll be over in the UK defending our title.”
BSS/AFP/ARS/1618 hrs