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

Wilfred Rhodes

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.

#2 Imran Khan 7/52 vs for Pakistan vs England, 29th July 1982

Imran Khan

The month of July seems to bode well for the Pakistani legend, be it in his cricketing days or even afterward. Just last week, he was elected as Pakistan's latest Prime Minister, having played crucial roles in the politics of the country over a long time. Several years earlier, it was in the same month that Khan rocked the English shores with his whirlwind bowling performances for the Pakistan side that was touring the nation.

It was the first Test of Pakistan's tour of 1982, and England were a strong side. Batting first, the hosts looked strong at 164/2, when Imran Khan rose to the occasion. Bowling 26 overs, he gave away just 52 runs and picked up seven wickets as England folded from a strong position to lose the remaining eight wickets while adding up just another 108 runs.

Disciplined bowling from the hosts later saved the game from Pakistan, however, that did not take away the charm of Imran's brilliant spell. David Gower and Ian Botham were among Khan's important scalps that day.

#3 Shane Warne 4/116 and 6/46 for Australia vs England, 4th August 2005

Shane Warne

The second Test of the 2005 Ashes in England is probably the most hotly contested Test match till date, the end result staying in favour of the hosts England, but by the smallest of margins - 2 runs. Imagine winning a game after five days of cricket and the margin is 2 runs.

In all ways the game was an even contest. However, if one were to pick an individual performer from the game, it had to be Shane Warne, who weaved his magic on the green Edgbaston pitch curated to not help spinners at all.

Warne returned with figures of 26-4-116-4 and 24-7-46-6, eventually ending up with ten wickets across the whole game. England scored 407 first, to which Australia replied with 308 and then used Warne's bowling in the second innings to out fox the English batsmen and dismantle them for 182. Chasing 282, the Australians got dismissed for 279, in what would be one of the most disappointing results an Australian side has suffered.

#4 Chetan Sharma 4/130 and 6/58 for India vs England, for England vs Australia, 3rd July 1986

Chetan Sharma

In the third Test of India's tour in 1986, England batted first to score 390 runs, thanks to a brilliant 183 by Mike Gatting. Chetan Sharma topped the bowlers with figures of 30-2-130-4. As all the first nine Indian batsmen scored a minimum of 20 runs each, India too ended their innings at 390, nullifying the English lead. Batting second, England were dismissed for just 235, thanks to Chetan Sharma's brilliant figures of 24-4-58-6, which meant he ended the game with ten wickets across both innings.

It was Chetan's best ever performance in a Test match till date, and India looked all set for a memorable win, but bad light stopped play prematurely and the visitors had to settle for a draw.

#5 Muttiah Muralitharan 6/86 and 4/29 for Sri Lanka vs England, 25th May 2006

Muttiah Muralitharan

The greatest spinner ever, Muttiah Muralitharan was a true legend, having been able to produce results all over the world. No place was home or away for the off-spinner, as he worked his way through batting squads with such destructive abilities.

In the 2nd Test of Sri Lanka's 2006 tour, Sri Lanka mustered just 184 runs in the first innings and showed signs of defeat without even putting up a fight. That was when Murali showed up, bowling 25 overs, giving away just 86 runs and picking up six scalps. But no other bowler delivered much and the English posted 295 runs on board. As Sri Lanka disappointed again in the second innings, all England need to chase and win was 81 runs, which they duly did.

In the second innings, England lost 4 wickets before they reached, all four of them claimed by Murali as he ended the match with ten wickets. He was the lone performer in a lackluster Sri Lankan side that were ripped to shreds by England.