Behind the scenes at the Ashes: Fans brave the rain
Mail reporter Paul Bradley dodged the rain with thousands of cricket fans as the Ashes jamboree rolled into Birmingham.
IT rained and it poured but nothing could stop thousands of cricket fans flocking to Edgbaston to watch England and Australia battle for the Ashes.
With England’s momentus 2005 victory still fresh in the memory, supporters were predicting another famous win.
Four years ago, Michael Vaughan’s team of underdogs went in to the Edgbaston game 1-0 down and nobody gave them a hope.
But buoyed by an inspirational Birmingham crowd, Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff and co beat the Australians by just two runs and the England team went on to win the series 2-1.
This time round the scenario was different with England leading the series 1-0 with three matches to play.
England fans poured into Edgbaston yesterday hoping to see their heroes in action.
But as the scheduled 11am start of play approached, huge grey clouds gathered overhead and the heavens opened.
Pitch inspections throughout the day gave everyone hope of some play ahead of the eventual 5pm start and the bars and hot dog stalls filled up as the crowd turned to food and drink to keep them warm.
