[Watch] Edgbaston Ready For Ashes Opener, Likely to Offer Batting Friendly Surface
Ariel view of Edgbaston Cricket Ground (Twitter)
The Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham is set to host the opening Test of the 2023 Ashes series. The match will be played between June 16 and June 20, and it launches the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Edgbaston likely to offer a flat track for first Test
Under bright skies, the Birmingham’s Edgbaston Cricket Ground looks all set to host the much-awaited Ashes opener. The surface at the venue might provide a batting-friendly track, as evidenced from an exclusive OneCricket video.
The pitch rolled out in Birmingham appears to be a flat one, in a bid to provide much assistance to the batters from both sides.
The quality of Australian and English batting, coupled with a seemingly flat surface on offer, might result in a high-scoring Test at the venue, or even a possible draw to some extent.
Notably, the ground hosted one of the highest successful run-chases in Test history last year, where hosts England overhauled their 378-run target to defeat India with ease.
Ashes 2023 updates
England will be looking to end their Ashes drought this season, considering the last time they lifted the trophy was way back in 2015 at home. The current team, however, holds a good chance under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
Ever since the duo assumed England’s Test leadership, the team has won 11 out of the 13 matches by employing a calculated result-oriented approach.
Meanwhile, Australia will look to justify their WTC 2023 winners tag and launch next championship on a confident note. They will head into the series with as many as three of their batters (Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head) occupying the top slots on the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, in a first such instance since 1984.
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