County Cricket Ground,
Edgbaston Road,
Edgbaston, Birmingham,
West Midlands B5 7QU.
(Phone: 0121-446-4422)
Established 1882
Capacity 21,000
Floodlights No
End names City End, Pavilion End
Home team(s) Warwickshire
Current local time 23:49, Sat Oct 11, 2008 (UTC +0100)
External links Weather
Situated in a leafy southern suburb of Birmingham, Edgbaston was the youngest of England's six regular Test venues, until Chester-le-Street was inaugurated in May 2003, more than one hundred years after Edgbaston's own debut, when the touring Australians were bowled out for 36 by Wilfred Rhodes in 1902. These days it is one of the finest venues in the country - a far cry from the "meadow of rough grazing land" that became Warwickshire County Cricket Club's third home at the end of the 19th century. It hosted just four Tests in its first 27 years, but upon re-entering the circuit in 1957, it was considered to be the most state-of-the-art ground in the country, with the Thwaite Memorial Scoreboard, constructed in 1950, among the most notable features. A new phase of renovation got underway at the end of the 1990s, which, partially funded by lottery money, resulted in the Edgbaston Cricket Centre and the £2million Eric Hollies stand. The ground was the scene of Brian Lara's world-record 501 not out, against Durham in 1994, and in 1999, played host to perhaps the single greatest one-day match in history - the tied World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa in 1999. Andrew Miller March 2005
