Edgbaston Test Archives

Birmingham Police detain a man for racism allegations at Edgbaston Test

BIRMINGHAM: Birmingham Police have apprehended a suspect following allegations of racist abuse directed at Indian fans during the recently held final Test between India and England at Edgbaston.

A man, in his thirties, has been taken into custody for interrogation into a “racially aggravated public order offence”, announced Birmingham Police on Twitter.

“#ARREST | A 32-year-old man has been arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence after reports of racist, abusive behaviour at the test match in #Birmingham on Monday. He remains in custody for questioning,” Birmingham Police tweeted on its official account.

#ARREST | A 32-year-old man has been arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence after reports of racist, abusive behaviour at the test match in #Birmingham on Monday. He remains in custody for questioning. pic.twitter.com/ROp6PVUsUz

— Birmingham Police (@BrumPolice) July 8, 2022

Earlier, Edgbaston authorities decided to launch an investigation after several tweets came into the limelight by Indian fans in attendance on the fourth day of the rescheduled Test for experiencing racist abuse at the stands and also complained about the stewards, who fell on deaf ears.

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‘Stokes wanted to promote me to hit winning runs against India’ Anderson

LONDON: England veteran right-arm pacer James Anderson revealed the incident from the hosts’ dressing room amid Edgbaston Test against India and claimed the skipper Ben Stokes asked him to score the winning runs for the team.

With England approaching the record target on the final day of the rescheduled Test, Anderson revealed that discussions were taking place about who would bat next, with Stokes – usually England’s No.6 – suggesting that others in the dressing room take the chance of hitting the winning runs.

“Because there was a new ball coming up, they thought, ‘Let’s try and finish it before the new ball. So if we lose a wicket, we’ll send Broady in and he can literally just try and hit every ball for six’. Between 67 and 75 overs or something like that. So then the deeper we got – I think it was about 20 runs left – Broady was like, ‘Right, that’s me done, someone else can go in next’,” Anderson revealed.

“So then Stokesy comes up to me and said, ‘You’ve never hit the winning runs. So if we need four to win, and [Ravindra] Jadeja’s bowling for example, do you fancy going in and hitting the winning runs?’ I just felt really uncomfortable with it. I thought it was a little bit too piss-takey. So I was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that’,” he further claimed.

The veteran pacer then went on to reveal that following this incident no one in the dressing room had padded up to go in and finish the job at No.6 as Sam Billings was the latest batter to have turned down Stokes’s idea of taking the chance to score the winning runs.

“So then he goes to Sam Billings who was batting at seven. ‘It’s a great chance to hit the winning runs in a Test match’. And again, he was like, ‘No, no, no, you’re next, you’re the captain you should go’. So we ended up, 20 runs left, Stuart Broad had decided he wasn’t going in, so he took his pads off,” Anderson disclosed.

“Sam Billings didn’t have his pads on. I wouldn’t put my pads on. And Ben Stokes also didn’t put his pads on. So we had no one padded up for the last 20 runs of that game. That’s how relaxed everyone was,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that England, in the end, did not need a No.6 as they defeated India by seven wickets on the back of an astounding unbeaten partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

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Bumrah powers India to dominate England on second day at Edgbaston

BIRMINGHAM: India stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball after smashing Stuart Broad for the costliest over in the Test history to drive his team towards a dominant position as England were reduced to 84/5 on a rain-hit second day in the rescheduled final test, here at Edgbaston.

India were bowled out for a mammoth 416 after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja reached his second Test hundred in the first inning. Indian skipper Bumrah played a late cameo of 31 runs, taking the veteran pacer Broad to the task, who conceded 35 runs in an over.

After a rough first day with the bowl, England displayed a dismal batting show as Bumrah stormed through the host’s top order grabbing three early wickets. Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope were sent back to the pavilion by the skipper at regular intervals amid the spells of rain.

England star batter Joe Root managed to survive India’s furious pace attack for a brief before he fell prey to Mohammad Siraj on 31 in a caught-behind wicket just before the conclusion of the day.

Meanwhile, nightwatchman Jack Leech proved futile in serving the purpose as he was efficiently removed by Mohammad Shami on a duck.

England will resume the proceedings of the third day with the overnight score of 84/5 with skipper Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow on the crease.

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Jasprit Bumrah to lead India in the fifth Test against England

NEW DELHI: The right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the fifth rescheduled Test against England as India’s all-format captain Rohit Sharma has been sidelined after contracting Covid-19.

The right-arm pacer Bumrah will be taking up the captaincy role for the first time while playing representative cricket at any level. Whereas, he has also become the first pacer after Kapil Dev to lead India.

Bumrah will be the second Indian captain in the ongoing Pataudi Trophy, which the touring side lead 2-1 as Virat Kohli was in charge for the first four Tests before the fifth and final Test was postponed indefinitely over the Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on the other hand, have also revealed their Playing XI for the fifth Test, scheduled to commence tomorrow. The veteran right-arm pacer James Anderson has returned to the lineup after recovering from an ankle injury.

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‘We want match-winning contributions from him’ Dravid backs Kohli

BIRMINGHAM: Former Indian captain and head coach Rahul Dravid has backed Virat Kohli and urged the star batter to contribute with match-winning performances -whether a 50 or a 60- as Team India prepares to face England in the rescheduled final Test at Edgbaston on July 1.

Dravid, in his pre-match press conference, put his weight behind Kohli, who has not scored a century since 2019 in any format, and stated that as a head coach he only wanted the batter to make match-winning contributions.

“Obviously, the standards that he has set, people only see hundreds as a success but for me, from a coaches’ perspective, we want contributions from him — match-winning contributions, whether it is a 50 or a 60,” he said as quoted by HindustanTimes.

Dravid further went on to claim that the star player had been passing through a rough phase despite not lacking any motivation or desire to perform.

“As players, you go through these phases and I don’t think you need the motivation to be very honest with you and I think in Virat’s case it is nothing to do with lack of motivation or desire,” he added

Dravid praised the 34-year-old batter for his hard work and fitness and believed he still had a long career ahead of him.

In my opinion, he is on the right side of 30 and he is an incredibly fit guy. He is one of the most hardworking guys that I have come across and his desire and hunger and the whole attitude of looking after himself,” he concluded.

It is worth mentioning here that India’s current Test skipper Rohit Sharma has been undergoing isolation after he was tested positive for Covid-19, making his availability for tomorrow’s match doubtful.

Although India has called Mayank Agarwal as batting cover but still waiting for further tests of Rohit to announce his replacement as a skipper of the Indian team.

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