Ashes 2023: previous England v Australia match at Edgbaston as tourists got off to winning start in 2019

The 2023 LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Series gets underway at Edgbaston on June 16 and the eyes of the cricketing world will be watching. The match signals the start of the five mach series which is one of the most fiercest in the sport. 

For the second consecutive time, the first match of the series will begin in Birmingham. In 2019, the last time Australia toured England for a men’s Ashes series, the tourists got off to a winning start to take a 1-0 lead. 

In the match, England bowler James Anderson picked up an injury early on - it was an injury which would rule him out of the rest of the series. Australia batted first at Edgbaston but got off to a shaky start. 

Stuart Broad removed both David Warner and Cameron Bancroft early and left Australia on 17-2. Steve Smith got his side back on track and he would eventually get out for 144 and, along with a rallying 44 from Peter Siddle, left Australia on 284 all out. 

Despite Jason Roy losing his wicket early, England rallied thanks to a century from Rory Burns half century contributions from Joe Root and Ben Stokes pushed England past 350 and to a final total of 374- a lead of just under 100. 

Australia were keen to bat long and hard- which is exactly what they did. On a pitch which was looking good to bat on, Smith and then Travis head both scored centuries and the touring side ended up on a huge 487-7 declared. This left England with a target of 398 to win. 

England’s reply started slow but at 80-2, they were making steady inroads towards the huge target. Aussie bowlers Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon feasted on some woeful English batting and took 8 wickets between them for just 66 runs. 

The defeat by 251 runs was a bitter pill to swallow for England, and gave Australia a huge boost in their efforts to win a series in England for the first time in 18 years.