Test Match Countdown: England At The Ageas Bowl 

To mark the nearing of the first #raisethebat Test between England and West Indies at the home of Hampshire Cricket, our historian Dave Allen has profiled England's previous visits to The Ageas Bowl to contest Test Matches

There have been three Test Matches involving England at the The Ageas Bowl.

16-20 June 2011: Sri Lanka 184 & 334-5 drew with England 377-8 declared

The first in 2011 welcomed Sri Lanka to the south coast, given it was the Bowl’s maiden test match, it should have been a great occasion but the weather was unkind throughout and in some respects the stars of the show were Nigel Gray and his groundstaff team.

Local boy Chris Tremlett came back to where it all started, took 6-48 and was awarded the Man-of-the Match award as the game petered out into a draw.

27-31 July 2014: England 569-7 declared & 205-4 declared beat India 330 & 178 by 266 runs

England’s victory by 266 runs over India in 2014 was a triumph for under pressure captain Alastair Cook, who’s brave 95 preceded centuries by Gary Ballance and Ian Bell.

James Anderson’s 5-53 in India’s first innings followed by Moeen Ali’s 6-67 in the final innings bowled England to victory.

The crowds were fairly good but not helped by this being the first and to date, only Test Match in England to start on a Sunday.

30,31 August; 1 & 2 September 2018: England 246 & 271 beat India 273 & 184 by 60 runs

India then returned to the The Ageas Bowl in 2018 and while it was tighter affair, it ended on the fourth day, a Sunday, with an English victory by 60 runs.

Pujara made a fine century, while Moeen Ali once again delivered a five-wicket haul and nine in the match as England won a tight, engrossing game in which none of the four innings reached 300.