2005 English cricket season the background due to the second Ashes Test, where England took on Australia at Edgbaston Cricket Ground for the second Test of the five-match series. England carried a 0–1 series deficit into Edgbaston, and after three days of cricket England led by 106 with two Australian wickets left to grab. Shane Warne, Brett Lee (Australia's top-scorer with 43 not out) and Michael Kasprowicz cut 104 of those runs off the target, but Kasprowicz gloved Steve Harmison behind to Geraint Jones, to leave England 2-run winners and the series tied at one-all. The English youth team were the first English representative
National League Division Two in 2005 with 170 for 6 with England Under-19 player Stuart Broad taking two for 35. Somerset (4pts) beat Derbyshire (0pts) by 135 runs Derbyshire Phantoms failed to carry their momentum from the Championship match earlier in the week, and fell to Somerset Sabres and the all-round effort of Ian Blackwell to lose all hopes of promotion. The Sabres were put in to bat, and after Matthew Wood and James Francis added 100 for the first wicket, Blackwell stepped in to bat. He hit 75, the same number of runs as Keith Parsons from number 5, and Somerset closed on 300 for