Having hosted India in a Test and T20I each less than 12 months ago, Edgbaston will be hosting Australia in the first of a five-match Ashes series from Friday. In what is going to be the first international match of the year for this stadium, it wouldn’t have anticipated for a better fixture.
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Host of a series opener during Ashes 2019 as well, England would want to main their stellar record in Birmingham Tests. In a grand total of 54 Tests in this city in the last 121 years, the home team has won 29 and lost 10 matches. Since Ashes 2009, England have won seven and lost only two out of their 11 Tests at this ground. That being said, both their losses have come in their last three matches.
Australia, on the other hand, have won four and lost six out of their 15 Tests at this venue in all these years. Wanting to take confidence from a 251-run victory the last time they played here, the visitors would be wary of not having the best of records otherwise.
Edgbaston Birmingham Test Records
As is the case with most iconic cricket stadiums, this one also sees former cricketers dominating the batting records. Highest Test run-scorers at Edgbaston are Alastair Cook (869), David Gower (769), Colin Cowdrey (767), Marcus Trescothick (670) and Joe Root (669). Batting details of active cricketers have been provided below:
| Batters | Matches | Runs | Highest | Average | 100 | 50 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 7 | 669 | 142* | 60.81 | 2 | 4 |
| Jonny Bairstow (ENG) | 7 | 468 | 114* | 46.8 | 2 | 2 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 2 | 301 | 144 | 75.25 | 2 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 2 | 231 | 149 | 57.75 | 1 | 1 |
| Rory Burns (ENG) | 2 | 225 | 133 | 56.25 | 1 | 1 |
Highest wicket-takers in Birmingham Tests are James Anderson (51), Stuart Broad (43), Fred Truman (39), Ian Botham (29) and Shane Warne (25). In addition to Anderson and Broad, other active bowlers to have done well at this ground are:
| Bowlers | Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | SR |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 13 | 51 | 22.62 | 2.79 | 48.56 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 10 | 43 | 24.06 | 3.07 | 46.97 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 5 | 17 | 25.41 | 3.45 | 44.17 |
| Steven Finn (ENG) | 4 | 16 | 25.43 | 3.18 | 47.93 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 2 | 12 | 20.75 | 2.83 | 43.91 |
Highest Test Innings Totals At Edgbaston
| Score | Overs | Team | Opposition | Year |
| 710/7d | 188.1 | England | India | 2011 |
| 633/5d | 165.2 | England | India | 1979 |
| 608/7d | 195 | Pakistan | England | 1971 |
| 606 | 143 | West Indies | England | 1984 |
| 595/5d | 134 | England | Australia | 1985 |
While the 700-run mark has been touched once in Test matches played at this venue, the 600-run mark has been surpassed four times. Only 14 out of the 192 innings here have witnessed a team scoring in excess of 500 runs.
Birmingham, which has hosted 54 Tests till date, has witnessed result-oriented matches 39 times. Out of these 39, teams have been able to successfully achieve targets only 13 times. Interestingly, England had registered the highest successful Test run-chase at Edgbaston in their most recent match.
Having sealed a 378-run chase in just 76.4 overs, the hosts had managed to achieve their highest-ever Test run-chase and second-highest run-chase in England on the back of thumping individual centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
