Cricket at Edgbaston: Top five individual Test bowling performances at the venue
The Edgbaston Cricket Ground at Birmingham is one of England's best cricketing facilities, with an experience of hosting Test matches from its earlier days, and later ODIs and T20Is since their inception. Established in 1882, the venue is one of the oldest in England, and also features among the most used international stadiums in the country. With permanent seating for approximately 25,000 spectators, it is the fourth-largest cricketing venue in the UK.
The first day/night Test match was played under lights exactly a year ago at Edgbaston, when England played West Indies. The venue is about to see the onset of another historic series as England will play hosts to India in a five-match Test series starting August 1, 2018. The first game will be played here.
Building up to an exciting series of competition between the world's best, let us take a look back into history and find out some amazing individual Test bowling performances that have taken place at Edgbaston.
#1 Wilfred Rhodes 7/17 for England vs Australia, 29th May 1902
In the first ever Test match hosted at Edgbaston in 1902, Australia played hosts England. England batted first and put up a score of 376/9 declared, and the put the visitors to bat. VT Trumper of Australia scored 18 runs as the opener. The scores of the remaining batsmen were as follows: 2, 1, 0, 3, 3, 0, 5, 1, 0, 0, 3. Bowled out for 36, Australia has seldom been humiliated this badly, before or since then.
The pick of the bowlers was Wilfred Rhodes, who picked up seven scalps in the Australian innings. He bowled 11 overs, out of which three were maiden overs, and took the wickets of opener Duff and every batsman starting from No.5 to No.11.
Surprisingly, England could not win the match as it was abandoned halfway through the Australian second innings at 46/2, as they were following on from their first innings.
Rhodes' 7/17 remains the best bowling performance in a Test innings at Birmingham, even 116 years later.