If Australia captain Tim Paine didn’t know Edgbaston used to be an intimidating position to play, he indisputably does now.

The venue lived as much as its popularity at the first morning of The Ashes on Thursday, with ‘Sandgate’ trio Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steve Smith strolling into a hearth pit on their go back to Take a look at cricket.

England fanatics welcomed the 2 openers, Bancroft and Warner, to the crease with chants of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat’ ahead of waving sandpaper and making a song ‘Cheerio’ after each males have been brushed aside early on.

The vacationers gave the impression neatly and actually rattled by way of the Birmingham crowd and England hero Ian Bell used to be fast to mock Aussie captain Paine for his feedback about Edgbaston ahead of the sequence.

Requested if there used to be a extra intimidating flooring in global cricket presently, Paine responded: “Than this? I may title you 15.”

And Bell, who has performed his county cricket at Edgbaston for Warwickshire since 1999, hit again at Paine after the Aussies crumbled to 154-Eight at Tea.

Simplest Smith, getting back from a 12-month ban along Warner and Bancroft, supplied any tangible resistance as Stuart Large and Chris Woakes tore in the course of the Aussies’ best order.

Recent off the again in their exciting International Cup triumph, England made a very good get started of their bid to regain the Ashes following their embarrassing 4-Zero defeat in January 2018.

The hosts have no longer misplaced a house sequence towards Australia for 18 years.