The Oval

The Brit Insurance Oval
England
Ground information
Location	Kennington, London
Establishment	1845
Seating capacity	23,500
Operator	Surrey County Cricket Club
End names	Pavilion End Vauxhall End
International information
First Test	6 September 1880: England v Australia
Last Test	7 August 2008: England v South Africa
First ODI	7 September 1973: England v West Indies
Last ODI	5 September 2007: England v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1846 – present	Surrey
As of 15 December 2007 Source: CricketArchive

The clock outside the Members' Entrance.

The Brit Insurance Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, London. In the past it was also sometimes called the 'Kennington Oval' (not to be confused with Kensington Oval in Barbados). In recent years it has been officially titled as the 'Fosters Oval', 'AMP Oval', and, currently, as the 'Brit Insurance Oval' (or 'Brit Oval') due to various commercial sponsorship deals. It is located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, and also traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer in late August or early September. The Oval was the first ground in Britain and second in the world (after the Melbourne Cricket Ground) to host Test cricket.

The nearest tube station is also called Oval, but the ground can also be easily reached from Vauxhall.

History

In 1844, Kennington Oval was a market garden. The Oval was then (and still is) owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Surrey County Cricket Club was set up in 1845. The Duchy was willing to grant a lease of the land for the purpose of a cricket ground, and, on 10 March, 1845, the Club signed a lease with the Otter Trustees, who held the land from the Duchy of Cornwall, 'to convert it into a subscription Cricket Ground', for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes (£20 more). The original contract for turfing the Oval cost £300; 10,000 grass turfs came from Tooting Common.

In 1868, 20,000 spectators gathered at the Oval for the first game of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England, the first tour of England by any foreign side.

Thanks to C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907, the first ever Test match in England was played at the Oval in 1880 between England and Australia. The Oval thereby became the second ground to stage a Test, after the MCG. In 1882, Australia won the Ashes Test by seven runs within two days. The Sporting Times printed a mocking obituary notice for English cricket, which led to the creation of The Ashes trophy, which is still contested whenever England plays Australia. The first Test double century was scored at the Oval in 1884 by Australia's Billy Murdoch.

The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season.^[1]

In 1907, South Africa became the 2nd visiting Test team to play a Test match at this venue. In 1928, West Indies played its first Test match at this venue followed by New Zealand in 1931. In 1936, India became the 5th foreign visiting Test side to play at the Oval, followed by Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are yet to play a Test match at the venue.

During the Second World War, the Oval was intended for use as a prisoner of war camp, although it was never employed as such. The Oval is referenced by the poet Philip Larkin in his poem about the First World War, MCMXIV.^[2]

The first One Day International match at this venue was played on September 7, 1973 between England and West Indies. It had the privilege of hosting matches of the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 World Cups. It also hosted five of the fifteen matches in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, including the final. No floodlit day/night international match has been played here to date, although Surrey have played several floodlit one-day matches. In fact, Surrey's ground is noted as having the first floodlights at a sport arena in the form of gas-lamps dating back to 1889 ^[3].

The ground also had a zeppelin and later a hot air balloon employed for aerial views during tests but this was never commercially viable and was gone by the turn of the millennium. Several other British grounds had this feature also such as Edgbaston. The Oval once held the record for the largest playing area of any Test venue in the world, but that record has since been surpassed by Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan (though it is still the largest in Britain).

The billionaire Paul Getty, who had a great affinity for cricket and was at one time Surrey CCC President built a replica of the Oval on his Wormsley Park estate.^[4] The famous gasholders at The Oval are actually younger than the ground by several years, having been built circa 1853. There has been much speculation of late as to whether they should be demolished, however many believe they are part of the Oval's landscape and therefore their future looks secure.

End names

The names of the ends are the Pavilion End and the Vauxhall End.

21st century redevelopment

The OCS Stand as pictured from the Bedser Stand

The Pavilion

At the end of the 2002 cricket season, Surrey started redeveloping the Vauxhall End. The development included knocking down the outdated Surridge, Fender, Jardine and Peter May north stands, and creating in their place a single four tier grandstand known as the OCS Stand. This work was completed in May 2005, increasing ground capacity to around 23,000.

In January 2007 Surrey announced plans to increase capacity by a further 2,000 seats, this time by redeveloping the Pavilion End. This is subject to the planning application being approved by Lambeth Council. The Lock, Laker and Peter May South stands will be replaced with a new stand, which will have a hotel backing on to it. The Surrey Tavern at the entrance to the ground will be demolished and a new pedestrian plaza will be created in its place, improving access to the ground and opening up views of the historic pavilion. However, these plans have been delayed due to fears over health and safety as the ground is very close to a gasometer.^[5]

In 2009, permanent floodlights were installed for use in Day/Night matches. The floodlights are telescopic and can be retracted when not in use.

Football

The Oval was also an important site in the historical development of football, before the game had its own separate national stadium. Football had been played in this part of London for many years prior to the inauguration of the Oval: "The Gymnastic Society" - arguably the world's first Football club - met regularly at Kennington Common during the second half of the eighteenth century to play football^[6]

First international football match

The Oval was home to the first ever international football match on the March 5, 1870 against Scotland, organised by the Football Association^[7][8] The game resulted in a 1-1 draw. Similar international matches between England and Scotland took place at the Oval in 1871, in February 1872 and 1873. On March 8, 1873, the England national team beat Scotland 4-2. England would continue to play occasionally at the Oval until 1889.

An illustration of an 1872 England vs Scotland match. The background shows the distinctive gasometer of The Oval

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

Date	Venue	Result	Competition	Location	Winner
5 March 1870	The Oval, London	1–1	Friendly		Draw
19 November 1870	The Oval, London	0–1	Friendly
25 February 1871	The Oval, London	1–1	Friendly		Draw
17 November 1871	The Oval, London	1–2	Friendly
24 February 1872	The Oval, London	0–1	Friendly
30 November 1872	Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow	0–0	Friendly		Draw
8 March 1873	The Oval, London	2–4	Friendly
7 March 1874	Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow	2–1	Friendly
6 March 1875	The Oval, London	2–2	Friendly		Draw
4 March 1876	Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow	3–0	Friendly
3 March 1877	The Oval, London	3–1	Friendly
2 March 1878	Hampden Park, Glasgow	7–2	Friendly
5 April 1879	The Oval, London	4–5	Friendly
13 March 1880	Hampden Park, Glasgow	5–4	Friendly
12 March 1881	The Oval, London	6–1	Friendly
11 March 1882	Hampden Park, Glasgow	5–1	Friendly
10 March 1883	Bramall Lane, Sheffield	3–2	Friendly
15 March 1884	Cathkin Park, Glasgow	1–0	Home International
21 March 1885	The Oval, London	1–1	Home International		Draw
27 March 1886	Hampden Park, Glasgow	1–1	Home International		Draw
19 March 1887	Leamington Road, Blackburn	3–2	Home International
17 March 1888	Hampden Park, Glasgow	0–5	Home International
13 April 1889	The Oval, London	3–2	Home International

First FA Cup Final

On March 16, 1872, The Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 to win the first ever FA Cup. This final was notable for the Engineers' modern footballing style of teamwork rather than individual play^[9]. C. W. Alcock, Secretary of the Football Association, was the prime mover of the competition. He had just become Secretary of Surrey, so that The Oval was the natural choice of venue for the final. Alcock also captained the successful Wanderers side. The Oval hosted all subsequent FA Cup finals (1873 excluded) up until 1892.

The Oval is one of two grounds (Bramall Lane in Sheffield being the other) to have staged both England Football and Cricket internationals, and also FA Cup Finals. The Oval also hosted the second ever Rugby Union international between England and Scotland in 1872 (the first was hosted at Raeburn Place a year earlier).

In recent years, the Oval has held an exhibition match for Australian rules football in October each year, between better performing Australian teams or to show the rivalry between certain clubs. In 2005, a record crowd for Australian rules football in England (18,884) saw the Fremantle Football Club defeat the West Coast Eagles.

Results of FA Cup Finals at the Oval

The ground has hosted many other events, including hockey fixtures, as well as concerts.

Floor Directory

Bedser Stand

OCS Stand

Pavillion

Transport Links

Public transport access

London Buses	Oval Station 36, 185, 436 Oval Station 155, 333 Camberwell New Road 155 333
London Underground	Oval Vauxhall
National Rail	Vauxhall

See also

Cricket portal

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
• List of Test cricket grounds
• History of Test cricket (to 1883)
• History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)
• History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)
• Gasworks Gallery, next to the ground

• Tenison's School, Lambeth - historic school located next to the ground, often used as a vantage point for TV cameras and crews

Notes

External links

• Surrey Cricket web site
• Cricinfo page on The Oval
• Aerial view of The Oval at Google Maps
• Annotated aerial photograph

Coordinates: 51°29′1.39″N 0°6′53.93″W / 51.4837194°N 0.1149806°W / 51.4837194; -0.1149806