For any cricket fan, the word ‘Edgbaston’ is synonymous with one of the greatest Test matches of all time.
In 2005, England edged past Australia by the narrowest margin in the history of Ashes cricket, winning by just two runs. Needing 107 to win at the start of the final day, Shane Warne and Brett Lee added 45 runs to the overnight score before the leg-spinner trod on his stumps playing back to Andrew Flintoff, before last man Michael Kasprowicz joined Lee. With the pair having added 59 to put victory just three runs away and England looking increasingly desperate for a wicket, Kasprowicz gloved behind to Geraint Jones off Steve Harmison, and England levelled the series at 1-1.
Controversially, it turned out Kasprowicz should never have been given out; his lower hand was actually off the bat when the ball struck it. However, that simply made the victory even sweeter for England fans.
However, when the two sides meet in Birmingham on Wednesday, it will be the first Test played there since 2012.
After a victory against Sri Lanka in 2006 and a defeat to South Africa in 2008, England’s record at the ground heading into the 2009 Ashes series was mixed. With a slender 1-0 lead after clinging on for a draw at Cardiff and a comfortable victory at Lord’s, England went into the third Test of the series at Edgbaston looking to secure a 2-0 lead.
England vs Australia, 2009
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting would have been fairly happy with the start his side made; at 126/1, the tourists were in the ascendency at close on the rain-interrupted first day.
However, regular wickets for England and a mini-collapse from 193/4 to 203/8 saw Australia bowled out for 263 on day two, with Shane Watson’s 62 (and yes, he was out lbw) the top score of the innings. James Anderson (5-80) and Graham Onions (4-58) were the pick of the bowlers, as England made good use of swinging conditions.
Despite being in trouble at 168/5, England’s lower-middle order and tail all contributed valuable runs, with Flintoff’s 79-ball 74 and a 64-ball 55 from Stuart Broad both helping the hosts reach 376 all out soon after tea on day four.
The rain looked almost certain to be the winner, after long delays had punctuated the match, and a 185-run 5th wicket stand between Michael Clarke (103*) and Marcus North (96) made sure of that on the final day.
Result: Match Drawn
England vs Pakistan, 2010
Whilst Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England will be remembered largely for the spot-fixing scandal involving Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, there was also an absorbing four-match Test series before its sad conclusion.
Despite their own batting issues, England annihilated Pakistan in the first Test at Trent Bridge; James Anderson’s match figures of 11-71 were outstanding, and Pakistan only made 262 across two completed innings.
At Edgbaston in the second Test, their batting worries did not calm down in the first innings.
After winning the toss, Butt saw his side slip to 12/3, then 36/6 thanks to fantastic opening spells from Anderson and Broad. Umar Amin’s 23 added a semblance of respectability to the affair, but only two other batsmen made double figures, as Pakistan were bowled out for a paltry 72.
At 205/3, England had a real chance to secure an enormous, unassailable first-innings lead, but Kevin Pietersen falling for 80 to Saeed Ajmal brought about a monumental collapse; the canny off-spinner snared another four wickets to finish with figures of 5-82, and with Amir and Asif chipping in with another wicket each, England were dismissed for 251.
Needing 179 to make England bat again, Pakistan were in all sorts of trouble when debutant wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider was given out first ball, making the score 82/5. However, after reviewing the decision, which was then reversed, Haider dug in, facing exactly 200 balls in his innings as he made 88, dragging his side up to 296 all out. Graeme Swann bowled excellently for England, taking six wicket for just 65 runs in 37 overs.
This proved to be Haider’s only Test; after an ODI series in the UAE in 2011, he sought asylum in London after receiving death threats, before eventually returning home in 2013.
Despite losing Alastair Cook cheaply for the second time in the match, England cruised to the target of 118; both Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott made 53* as the hosts won by nine wickets.
Result: England won by nine wickets
England vs India, 2011
Excellent seam bowling on the first day by Anderson (2-69), Broad (4-53) and Tim Bresnan (4-62) followed by an unbeaten opening stand of 84 by close set England up very nicely in the third Test of the India series in 2011.
After commanding victories in the first two games of the tour, England did not show any mercy whatsoever at Edgbaston; they closed the second day with 456 on the board for the loss of only three wickets. Cook was unbeaten on 182 overnight, and was not dismissed until after tea on the third day.
His 294 is the sixth-highest Test score by an Englishman, and helped the side to 710/7 declared. Eoin Morgan’s 104 was the other innings of note, which remains one of only two Test hundreds by the Irishman.
Sreesanth, who had all spot-fixing charges against him dropped earlier this week, took a particular hammering, ending with figures of 0-158 in 36 overs.
Virender Sehwag fell for a king pair in India’s second innings, as 4-85 from Anderson helped dismiss the tourists for 244, with only MS Dhoni (74) passing fifty as England won by an innings and 242 runs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
Result: England won by an innings and 242 runs
England vs West Indies, 2012
After victories at Lord’s and Trent Bridge, England went into the third and final Test of the 2012 West Indies series sensing the chance of a whitewash to atone for the tough time they had endured the previous winter, after a 3-0 defeat to Pakistan and 1-1 draw in Sri Lanka.
There was no play on either of the first two days, so it was no surprise when Strauss elected to bowl first on winning the toss. Having reduced the West Indies to 283/9 on the fourth morning, with Onions, Bresnan and Steven Finn all taking three wickets apiece, England would have hoped to press home that advantage with the bat later in the day.
However, they had not accounted for one of the more remarkable innings in the modern era of the game.
Averaging 9.8 in Test matches when he came to the crease, Tino Best, whose most famous batting moment had been being stumped by Geraint Jones off the bowling of Ashley Giles, having been warned by Andrew Flintoff to “mind the windows” at Lord’s in 2004, did not give any respect to England’s bowlers.
In fact, rather than trying to play second fiddle in a partnership with wicket-keeper Dinesh Ramdin, Best contributed 95 runs to a 144-run last-wicket stand that came about in 31 overs, before being caught off Onions looking for his hundred. His innings included 14 fours and a six, and came from only 112 deliveries.
Ramdin, meanwhile, celebrated his hundred by bringing a note out of his pocket which read ‘Yeah Viv Talk Nah’ [sic], in retort to Antiguan great Sir Vivian Richards’ criticisms of his batting in the run-up to the Test. He was fined for his gesture, but ended unbeaten on 107.
England initially struggled in their reply, with the top three of Strauss, Cook and Trott all falling before the score reached fifty, but 78 from Pietersen and an unbeaten 76 from Ian Bell took the hosts to 221/5 at close, before the fifth day was washed out.
Result: Match drawn
So England remain undefeated in Test matches at Edgbaston since 2008. Will that record still stand on Sunday night?
