Ashes to Ashes is only a short story.
A more detailed account of how the Ashes were given to Ivo Bligh was outlined by his wife, the Countess of Darnley, in 1930 during a speech at a cricket luncheon
 The contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of a wooden bail, and were humorously described as "the ashes of Australian cricket"

