Edgbaston is the venue for this week’s Ashes opener and has been a happy hunting ground for England over the years, though they will be out to avenge 2019’s loss to Australia.
England have won six and drawn five of their 15 Tests against Australia in Birmingham, losing four, while they have 29 wins there overall and only 10 losses.
Here, PA looks back at the ground’s Ashes history.
Results
Edgbaston welcomed the touring Australians for the first time in May 1902, when the rain helped the visitors to a draw despite having been bowled out for 36 in their first innings.
They lost by 10 wickets seven years later on their last visit until 1961, when Australia’s Neil Harvey and England’s Raman Subba Row and Ted Dexter all made centuries in a high-scoring draw.
The 1968 Test was also drawn before, in 1975, Australia inflicted England’s first ever loss in 17 Edgbaston Tests by an innings and 85 runs.
England won in 1981 and by an innings in 1985, captain David Gower with a double century. The decade concluded with Australia dominant in a draw in 1989.
Mark Waugh made 137 and 62 not out in a 1993 eight-wicket win for Australia and after Nasser Hussain’s double-century led England to a nine-wicket win in 1997, the tourists enjoyed another innings victory in 2001.
England won an unforgettable 2005 clash and, after a draw in 2009, won 2015’s encounter by eight wickets but will need to bounce back from a nightmare defeat in 2019.
Steve Smith hit twin 140s before England were bowled out for 146, spinner Nathan Lyon with six wickets as an opener and Pat Cummins four, to lose by 251 runs.
The West Indies won four times at Edgbaston between 1984 and 2000 with South Africa and New Zealand the other visiting teams to beat England there.
Jones…. Bowden
The 2005 Ashes thriller stands tall for England at Edgbaston. Regarded by many as the greatest Test ever played, England won by two runs after Australia almost chased an improbable 282 to win.
Buoyed by Glenn McGrath injuring himself in the warm-ups, England raced to a first-innings 407 and had a lead of 99 after cleaning up Australia. Andrew Flintoff then clubbed 73 to set the target before taking a memorable four for 79.
Australia were 137 for seven but Shane Warne fought back with 42 before treading on his stumps to give Flintoff his fourth wicket, and Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz produced a last-wicket stand of 59 which looked to be pushing Australia to a shock win and a 2-0 series lead.
Umpire Billy Bowden, though, deemed Steve Harmison had Kasprowicz caught behind by Geraint Jones, leading the great commentator Richie Benaud to simply say “Jones… Bowden” as the England celebrations unfolded.
The handshake that followed as Flintoff dropped down to meet a devastated Lee on his haunches has become an indelible image in Ashes history.
Barmy Army
England’s superb Edgbaston record runs alongside the fantastic support they get at the ground.
The Hollies Stand is one of cricket’s most vibrant places to watch the sport from and will witness the first Ashes airing of England supporters club the Barmy Army’s new chant for Stuart Broad, written to the tune of Abba’s Voulez-Vous.
Broad’s long-time rival David Warner is likely to be a prime target in his final Ashes but the Barmy Army’s first Test guide stresses the need to avoid personal abuse.
“We seek to be entertaining when singing and creating songs, not use offensive language and have good clean fun,” the document reads, adding that membership can be removed “without notice” from any fan who oversteps the mark.
Edgbaston heroes
England’s long-time opening bowling pair James Anderson and Stuart Broad have enjoyed tremendous records at Edgbaston and are the leading two wicket-takers at the venue.
Anderson, expected to be fit after sitting out the warm-up game against Ireland, will look to add to his 51 wickets at an average of 22.62 in 13 previous Tests at Edgbaston. That includes six for 47 and five for 80 against Australia in 2015 and 2009 respectively, with another five-wicket haul against India last year.
Broad took five for 51 against Ireland at Lord’s last week and has 43 wickets at 24.06 in 10 Edgbaston Tests including an Ashes five-for in 2019.
Joe Root averages over 60 with the bat in 13 Test innings there, with four half-centuries – including 63 and 57 in the 2015 and 2019 Ashes respectively – and two hundreds.
Warner averages just 22.25 in two Edgbaston visits but England will be wary of Smith’s average of 75.25 at the ground.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
IPL: Iyer and Starc boost Kolkata's top-two hopes after Mumbai win
Venkatesh Iyer starred with 70 for Kolkata Knight Riders before Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul eased his side to a 24-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The Knight Riders only managed to post 169 at Wankhede Stadium as Iyer and Manish Pandey (42) were the only Kolkata batters to pass 15 runs on Friday.
Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 3-42 and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets for just 18 runs as Kolkata limped to a target that appeared somewhat reachable for Mumbai.
Yet Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir all failed to get going in response for the Indians before Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 56 promised a tense ending.
However, Andre Russell forced Suryakumar to launch a full toss into the sky for a simple Phil Salt catch – with the West Indian one of three Kolkata bowlers to collect two wickets, along with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (both 2-22).
Suryakumer's dismissal teed up Starc's three-wicket blitz to end the innings with 4-33, moving the Knight Riders up to second in the table as Tim David's quickfire 24 proved redundant for Mumbai.
Data Debrief: Iyer the hero as Mumbai play-off hopes stunted
Having been reduced to 57-5 in the first innings, Iyer stood up with his season-best 70 off just 52 balls – including six fours and three maximums – guiding Kolkata to a commendable target.
This defeat left Mumbai ninth in the table, some six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games remaining – they may live to rue not capitalising on a promising first-innings position.
CWI's Lead Selector Haynes confident in T20 World Cup squad- “We’ve got a team that can win this World Cup”
CWI Lead Selector, Dr. The Hon. Desmond Haynes, believes the squad that has been selected to represent the West Indies at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup set for June 1-29 in the Caribbean and the USA can replicate the performances of the region’s title-winning squads in 2012 and 2016.
“This is a very good time in West Indies cricket. I believe that we’ve got a team that can win this World Cup and I feel damn good about this,” Haynes said in a Friday press conference announcing the squad.
“We’ve had preparations for the last year. The majority of the players, we had them involved and they were very successful. This is a very exciting time for us and I would hope that everyone in the Caribbean and all the West Indies fans support us because this is our best chance,” he added.
Also on hand at Friday’s press conference was West Indies Men’s ODI and T20I head coach Daren Sammy who also expressed confidence in the squad ahead of the tournament.
“We’ve known how to select winning teams. We’ve done it before and I think, as a selection group, we’re really excited about it,” Sammy said.
“It’s an exciting time and this preparation did not start now. It started from the last World Cup in Australia. What we’ve been able to do throughout the last year as a T20 group, the players we’ve exposed, has brought us to this moment and I think we’re about to knock it out of this world,” he added.
Two of the standout names in the 15-man squad were pacer Shamar Joseph and Shimron Hetmyer.
Joseph made his Test debut during the recent tour to Australia and became a worldwide phenomenon when he took a seven-wicket haul in the final innings despite an injured foot to give West Indies a dramatic eight-run win at the Gabba in the second Test. It was West Indies' first Test win in Australia since 1997.
This will be his first opportunity to represent the West Indies in the T20I format. He’s currently getting his first crack at franchise T20 cricket as he is a member of the Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
“You really can’t question Shamar Joseph’s skills. We saw him in Australia. We were looking at someone up front to bowl in the first powerplay and we think he ticks that box for us,” Haynes said.
Hetmyer is making his return to the squad after being left out for the tour of Australia. Haynes said it was a tough time deciding whether to pick Hetmyer or Kyle Mayers.
“It was a very close decision between Kyle and Hettie but we look at it from the point of view that we wanted the extra batsman to be one batting down the order,” he said.
Since the start of Daren Sammy’s tenure as head coach, he has always placed an emphasis on the importance of roles in a successful T20 outfit.
He believes that this 15-man group has covered all the necessary bases.
“We are ready. When you look at role definition from the group we’ve selected, I think we’ve come up with the best combination to help us win this World Cup.
The hosts will open their campaign against Papua New Guinea at Providence in Guyana on June 2.
Full squad: Rovman Powell (C), Alzarri Joseph (VC), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd
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