Situated in the country suburb of Birmingham, the County Cricket Ground was established in 1882. It was the youngest of England’s six regular Test grounds, until Chester-le-street was inaugurated in 2003. Edgbaston made its debut in 1902, when England and Australia played a Test and an ODI between the same teams was played in 1972. With a crowd capacity of 21,000, it was voted ideal for ODIs as well. 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.