Edgbaston prays for sunshine after landing dream ICC final

CRICKET authorities at Edgbaston are praying for fine weather after they were handed the dream ticket for the final of the ICC Champions Trophy on Sunday.

India’s win over Sri Lanka in the semi-final at Cardiff yesterday means they will line up against host nation England for the eagerly anticipated game.

The final, the first to be staged outside of London, is already a sell-out; tickets being snapped up within days of going on sale last year.

However, Warwickshire CCC is keen to round-off its participation in the tournament with a grandstand finish.

The club does not have an Ashes Test Match this year and has been denied a five day game against India next year. Both would have been big revenue earners for the club, which is keen to make up for a £670,000 loss last year due to so much cricket being lost to the weather.

Sunday’s game – the first England/India encounter at Edgbaston since 2011, when the test match coincided with the opening of the ground’s new £32m stadium – has therefore taken on even greater significance.

The ground has already hosted sell-out games against England and Australia and India and Pakistan, and the tournament as whole could be worth millions of pounds to Birmingham’s visitor economy.

It also reinforces Edgbaston’s ability to stage world-class events and has showcased the ground to millions of television viewers around the world.