Overnight rain causes delay to start of Edgbaston Ashes Test
Wet weather delayed the start of the third Ashes Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston today, as two of the venues for the 2013 series were announced by the England & Wales Cricket Board.
Despite sunshine bathing the ground as the players practised, the torrential rain of yesterday took its effect.
Umpires Rudi Koertzen and Aleem Dar were not happy with the state of the outfield and opted to inspect at 11am.
Meanwhile, Durham will host an Ashes Test at the Riverside for the first time in 2013, the ECB have confirmed.
The Oval will also host a match the next time Australia contest the Ashes on English soil in four year's time, leaving the venues for the other three matches in the series still open for bidding.
That will put pressure on Warwickshire CCC and Edgbaston, as Lord's is likely to be one of the venues, leaving Headingley, Old Trafford, The Rose Bowl, Cardiff's Sophia Gardens, Trent Bridge all competing with Birmingham for the remaining two slots.
The ECB also announced that Hampshire's Rose Bowl will host a Test between England and India in 2014, along with Old Trafford and the Brit Oval.
The decisions were announced after the ECB accepted the recommendations of the Major Match Group, which has implemented a plan to award major Tests to grounds like the Riverside that do not have long-term staging agreements.
Durham, who have also been awarded a Test against Sri Lanka in 2016, first hosted Test match cricket in 2003, and England have a perfect record in their four contests at the Chester-le-Street venue to date.
Also still to be announced are the venues for one Test against India in 2011 and one in 2014, as well as one-day internationals against Australia in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
The ECB must also make an announcement regarding the Test matches to be played between Pakistan and Australia in England next year.
