Edgbaston awarded first ever day-night Test Match

A WEEK after Birmingham announced its bid to secure the 2026 Commonwealth Games, the city’s sporting credentials have received a further boost.

The England & Wales Cricket Board has given the go-ahead for Edgbaston Stadium to host England’s first ever day-night Test Match.

Taking place from Thursday August 17 to Monday August 21, England will face West Indies at the stadium in the first Test of the Investec Series.

Players will wear traditional white clothing but will play with a pink – rather than the usual red – ball. The game will start at 2pm until 9pm, subject to clearance.

The move is part of the ECB’s bid to promote Test cricket, which languishes behind the one-day and T20 formats.
It believes that with the later start, people will be able to head to the ground straight from work and see more of the day’s play.

Floodlit cricket is nothing new, Edgbaston has been staging games under lights for many years and following the ground’s £20m overall five years ago now boosts permanent floodlights.

The venue is also the regular host for the T20 finals day, where the final is always played under lights and finishes well beyond the 9pm cut-off for the Test Match.

Neil Snowball, chief executive of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, said: “Bringing day/night Test cricket to England is an innovative and very exciting development for the game, and we’re thrilled that Edgbaston will be the first venue to host a match played in this format.

“Edgbaston staged the UK’s first day/night domestic match in 1997 and has a great history of hosting and selling out some of the biggest fixtures in the game. In turn, the Edgbaston atmosphere and match day experience has become iconic, with England having a fantastic record of victories here.

“Marking our 50th Test anniversary with a game of this magnitude will be a great occasion. We will be working very closely with our delivery partners and key stakeholders on our planning and operations to ensure that this first ever day/night Investec Test Match is a huge success.”