Australia’s pace bowling storm subdued by New Zealand and Edgbaston hoodoo | Andy Bull

Jun 02, 2017

Australia’s quicks were frustrated by Kane Williamson’s century in a rain-hit Champions Trophy game at a ground where their bowlers have struggled lately

Beer sales were just a little brisker than typical on the 7.43 out of Euston on Friday morning, but then it wasn’t carrying your usual commuter crowd. There were a few hundred expat cricket fans on board, making the early run up to Birmingham for the Trans-Tasman derby between Australia and New Zealand at Edgbaston. As the train left Coventry the announcer reassured them all that, if they were quick, they had time for one more round before they reached New Street. Which set the day up perfectly. Because in between all the longueurs while the showers blew over, carrying fat cold raindrops, everything in the match happened in a hurry. It was all about time, who had it, and how they used it. With so many quick bowlers playing, there was precious little of it to go around.

It’s a hard road, Edgbaston, for Australia’s fast bowlers. It’s been 16 years since the team last won a game here, back in the 2001 Ashes. Since then, a lot of quick men have taken a lot of hard knocks at the ground. In the 2004 Champions Trophy, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee were rattled by Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan, the first little inkling that the 2005 Ashes was going to be a very different sort of series to the ones just before it.

Tags: Australia cricket team Australia sport Cricket ICC Champions Trophy New Zealand cricket team Sport