as a competition during the Australian tour of England in 1882. A surprise victory for Australia inspired a mock obituary of English cricket to be published in the Sporting Times the following day: the phrase "The body shall be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" prompted the subsequent creation of the Ashes urn. The series of 1884–85 was the first to be held over five matches: England player Alfred Shaw, writing in 1901, considered the side to be "the best ever to have left England". South Africa became the third team to play Test cricket in 1888–89, when they hosted a tour by an under-strength England side. Australia, England and South Africa were the only countries playing Test cricket before World War I. Terminology The term "test match" was coined during the English tour of Australia in 1861–62 but in a different context. It meant that the English team was testing itself against each of the Australian colonies. Following Lillywhite's tour, Australian teams reciprocated, beginning with Dave Gregory's team in 1878. By the beginning of 1892, eight English teams had visited Australia and seven Australian teams had visited England. In its issue of 25 February 1892, Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game revived the term "test match" and freely applied it to the three international matches which had just been played in Australia by Lord Sheffield's XI, starting with the match at the MCG which was billed as Lord Sheffield's Team v Combined Australia. The report began: "There was no little appropriateness in fixing the first of the three great test matches for January 1". Clarence P. Moody The first list of matches considered to be "Tests" was conceived and published by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody in his 1894 book, Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94. Moody's proposal was well-received by Charles W. Alcock, editor of Cricket in England and his list of 39 matches was reproduced in the 28 December 1894 issue as part of an article entitled "The First Test Match". The list begins with the MCG match played 15–17 March 1877 and ends with the recent match at the Association Ground, Sydney played 14–20 December 1894. All 39 were retrospectively recognised as Test matches, as was the unlisted 1890 Old Trafford match that was abandoned without a ball being bowled. No South African matches were included in Moody's list but three against