The Oval

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The Oval
Surrey

The Oval Pavilion
Location
Town: Kennington
Grid reference: TQ30987776
Location: 51°29’1"N, 0°6’54"W
History
Established: 1845
Information
Sport: Cricket
Home to: Surrey County Cricket Club
Seating capacity: 25,500
Owned by: Duchy of Cornwall

The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval,[1] is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the urban north-east of Surrey, The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it was opened in 1845.[2]

The Oval was the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880.[3][4] The final Test match of the English season is traditionally played at the Oval.

In addition to cricket, The Oval has hosted a number of other historically significant sporting events. In 1870, it staged the first football match between England and Scotland.[5] It hosted the first FA Cup final in 1872,[6] as well as those between 1874 and 1892. In 1876, it held both the England v Wales and England v Scotland rugby international matches and, in 1877, rugby's first varsity match.[4]

Back to its main business, cricket, the Oval hosted the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

History

The clock by the Members' entrance

The Oval is built on part of the former Kennington Common. Cricket matches were played on the common throughout the early 18th century. The earliest recorded first-class match was the London v Dartford match on 18 June 1724. However the common was also used regularly for public executions of those convicted at the Surrey Assizes, being the Surrey equivalent of Tyburn, and so cricket matches had moved away to the Artillery Ground by the 1740s. Kennington Common was eventually enclosed in the mid-19th century under a scheme sponsored by the Royal Family.

In 1844, the site of the Kennington Oval was a market garden[7] owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The Duchy was willing to lease the land for the purpose of a cricket ground, and on 10 March 1845 the first lease, which the club later assumed, was issued to Mr. William Houghton (then president of the progenitor Montpelier Cricket Club) by the Otter Trustees who held the land from the Duchy "to convert it into a subscription cricket ground",[7] for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes amounting to £20.[8] The original contract for turfing The Oval cost £300; the 10,000 grass turfs came from Tooting Common and were laid in the Spring of 1845, allowing for the first cricket match to be played in May 1845. Surrey County Cricket Club was established in that summer, 1845.[2][7][9]

The popularity of the ground was immediate and the strength of the Club grew. On 3 May 1875 the club acquired the remainder of the leasehold for a further term of 31 years from the Otter Trustees for the sum of £2,800.[7]

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 overseas side.[10] Thanks to C.W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907,[11] the first 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 Melbourne Cricket Ground.[12] In 1882, Australia won the Test by seven runs within two days. The Sporting Times printed a mocking obituary notice[13] for English cricket, which led to the creation of the Ashes trophy, which is still contested whenever England plays Australia.[14] The first Test double century was scored at The Oval in 1884 by Australia's Billy Murdoch.[15]

Surrey's ground is noted as having the first artificial lighting at a sports arena, in the form of gas-lamps, dating to 1889.[16] The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season.[17]

In 1907, South Africa became the second visiting Test team to play a Test match at the ground. In 1928, the West Indies played its first Test match at The Oval, followed by New Zealand in 1931. In 1936, India became the fifth Empire visiting Test side to play at The Oval, followed by Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998.[18]

Cricket, WG Grace, 1891– Kennington Oval

The Oval is referenced by the poet Philip Larkin in his poem about the First World War, "MCMXIV".[19] During the Second World War, The Oval was requisitioned, initially housing anti-aircraft searchlights. It was then turned into a prisoner-of-war camp, intended to hold enemy parachutists. However the prisoners never came and so The Oval was never actually used for this purpose.[20]

The first One Day International match at this venue was played on 7 September 1973 between England and West Indies.[21] Many other significant international matches have followed.

The Oval once held the record for the largest playing area of any Test venue in the world. That record has since been surpassed by Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan, although The Oval remains the largest in the United Kingdom.

Paul Getty, the billionaire, who had a great affinity for cricket and was at one time SCCC President, built a replica of The Oval on his Wormsley Park estate.

The famous gasholders just outside the ground were built around 1853.[22] With the gasholders long disused, there was much speculation as to whether they should be demolished; however, many believe they are an integral part of The Oval's urban landscape and, therefore, their future looks secure. In 2016 the main gasholder was given official protected status as a historically important industrial structure.[23]

On 27 July 2017, the Oval hosted its hundredth Test, against South Africa, on 27 July 2017, becoming the fourth Test venue in the world, after Lord's, Melbourne and Sydney, to do so.[24] Moeen Ali also became the first player to ever take a Test hat-trick at The Oval, bowling out South Africa in the second innings to win the match.[25]

In Tests, the highest team score at The Oval is 903/7 declared by England against Australia on 20 August 1938. The leading run scorers are Len Hutton (1,521 runs), Alastair Cook (1,217 runs) and Graham Gooch (1,097 runs). The leading wicket takers are Ian Botham (52 wickets), Derek Underwood (45 wickets) and James Anderson (44 wickets).

In One Day Internationals, the highest team score at The Oval is 398/5 by New Zealand against England on 12 June 2015.

Conferences and events

As well as being an international sporting venue, The Oval has a conference and events business. The Corinthian Roof Terrace built on the OCS Stand in 2013 features panoramic views of the London skyline.

The ground has also hosted other events: football and rugby were played here in their early days and several FA Cup finals were played at the Oval. In more recent years the ground has hosted hockey fixtures and concerts.

The Oval has hosted exhibition matches for Australian rules football. The first such match was held between Carlton and a team of All-Stars in 1972.[26] In 1987, the Oval hosted what became known as the Battle of Britain between Carlton and North Melbourne, which included numerous fights and future multiple AFL Premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, at the time only a teenager, breaking Ian Aitken's jaw. In 2005, a record crowd for Australian rules football in England (18,884) saw Fremantle defeat the West Coast Eagles in the Western Derby (thus far, the only edition of the fixture to not be played in Perth). In 2012, approximately 10,000 attended a post-season exhibition match between Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, which Port Adelaide won by 1 point.[27]

In 2011, ahead of an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium, the Chicago Bears used The Oval as a practice facility.[28]

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about The Oval)

References

  1. ↑ The Kia Oval & Surrey County Cricket Club: Kia Motors UK
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 History of the Oval: The History Of Surrey County Cricket Club
  3. ↑ "Test Cricket Tours – Australia to England 1930". http://test-cricket-tours.co.uk/page_1626918.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ESPNcricinfo The Oval on Cricketinfo
  5. ↑ Department, Guardian Research (13 May 2011). "5 March 1870: England v Scotland at The Oval". https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/may/13/guardian190-football-england-scotland. 
  6. ↑ "FA Cup Final Anniversary – Kia Oval" (in en-US). 16 March 2012. https://www.kiaoval.com/fa-cup-final-anniversary. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Oval; Kennington: Introduction and the demesne lands: British History Online
  8. ↑ Montgomery, Henry Hutchinson: 'The History of Kennington and Its Neighborhood: With Chapters on Cricket Past and Present' (1889) page 173
  9. ↑ "Hundred years of Surrey cricket". At "The Oval in 1845", paras 2- 4.. http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152864.html. 
  10. ↑ "National Museum of Australia – Aboriginal cricket team". http://www.nma.gov.au/online_features/defining_moments/featured/aboriginal_cricket_team. 
  11. ↑ "England Players – Charlie Alcock". http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersA/BioAlcockCW.html. 
  12. ↑ Cantrell, John (2013). Farokh Engineer From the Far Pavilion. Google Books: The History Press. ISBN 0750952539. 
  13. ↑ "Rise of the Ashes". http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/446226.html. ""An Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket Which Died At The Oval On 29 August 1882... "" 
  14. ↑ "A short history of the Ashes". http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013/content/story/259985.html. 
  15. ↑ Morris, Christopher. Murdoch, William Lloyd (Billy) (1854–1911). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murdoch-william-lloyd-billy-4272. 
  16. ↑ 'Cricket's Strangest Matches', page 34, ISBN 1-86105-293-6
  17. ↑ Club History
  18. ↑ "Cricinfo – Test Matches – Complete List". http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/MISC/COMPLETE_LIST.html. 
  19. ↑ "As if they were stretched outside The Oval or Villa Park..." Philip Larkin, "MCMXIV".
  20. ↑ David Lemmon, The History of Surrey County Cricket Club, Christopher Helm, 1989, ISBN 0-7470-2010-8, p197.
  21. ↑ "Cricinfo – ODI Matches – Complete List". http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/MISC/COMPLETE_LIST.html. 
  22. ↑ "End of an innings: Time called on Oval landmark". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10597517/End-of-an-innings-Time-called-on-Oval-landmark.html. 
  23. ↑ "Listed status for The Oval's Victorian gasholder – BBC News" (in en-GB). https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-35709747. 
  24. ↑ Ahmed, Qamar (2017-07-27). "The Oval stages its 100th Test" (in en). DAWN.COM. https://www.dawn.com/news/1347866/the-oval-stages-100th-test-today. 
  25. ↑ "England v South Africa: Moeen Ali hat-trick wraps up hosts' victory" (in en-GB). BBC Sport. 31 July 2017. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/40779516. 
  26. ↑ Brown, Alf (30 October 1972). "Carlton won match, but not the English". The Herald (Melbourne): p. 24. 
  27. ↑ "Port Adelaide wins AFL exhibition game against Western Bulldogs in London". News.com.au. 4 November 2012. http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/port-adelaide-wins-afl-exhibition-game-against-western-bulldogs-in-london/story-fndv7pj3-1226509926163. 
  28. ↑ Sanchez, Raf (2011-10-21). "Chicago Bears the underdogs as they prepare to clash with Tampa Bucaneers at Wembley" (in en-GB). SSN 0307-1235. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/8842151/Chicago-Bears-the-underdogs-as-they-prepare-to-clash-with-Tampa-Bucaneers-at-Wembley.html. 
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