Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley (13 March 1859-10 April 1927), known earlier in his life as The Honourable Ivo Bligh, was a cricketer who captained the English cricket team in the first ever Ashes series in Australia in 1882/3. Later in life, he inherited the Earldom of Darnley and was elected an Irish representative peer.

After an English team led by Monkey Hornby lost to the Australians at the Oval in 1882, the Sporting Times newspaper wrote a mock obituary to English cricket, noting that the body would be cremated and the ashes sent to Australia. The following winter's tour to Australia was widely billed as an attempt to reclaim the Ashes. Bligh's team was successful, winning the 3-match Ashes series 2-1, though a fourth game, not played for the Ashes, was lost.

Bligh also played for Cambridge University and Kent County Cricket Club in a first-class cricket career that lasted from 1877 to 1883. He was also president of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1900 and of Kent County Cricket Club in 1892 and 1902. In 1900 he became the eighth Earl of Darnley on the death of his father.

See also

• History of Test cricket (to 1883)

External link

• Cricinfo page on Hon. Ivo Bligh