The Oval

This article is about the cricket ground in London. For other uses, see Oval (disambiguation).

"Surrey Cricket Ground" redirects here. For the cricket ground in Sri Lanka, see Surrey Village Cricket Ground.

"Kennington Oval" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Kensington Oval.

The Oval

The Oval Pavilion
Ground information
Location	Kennington, London, England
Establishment	1845
Capacity	26,000
Owner	Duchy of Cornwall
Operator	Surrey County Cricket Club
Tenants	Surrey County Cricket Club
End names
Pavilion End Vauxhall End
International information
First Test	6–8 September 1880: England v Australia
Last Test	20–23 August 2015: England v Australia
First ODI	7 September 1973: England v West Indies
Last ODI	12 June 2015: England v New Zealand
First T20I	28 June 2007: England v West Indies
Last T20I	20 May 2014: England v Sri Lanka
Team information
Surrey (1846 – present)
As of 28 August 2015 Source: Cricinfo

The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground at Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it was opened in 1845. It was the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880. The final Test match of the English season is traditionally played there.

In addition to cricket, The Oval has hosted a number of other historically significant sporting events. In 1870, it staged England's first international football match, versus Scotland. It hosted the first FA Cup final in 1872, 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.

History

The clock by the Members' entrance.

In 1844, Kennington Oval was a market garden owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. 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 "to convert it into a subscription cricket ground", for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes amounting to £20. The original contract for turfing The Oval cost £300; 10,000 grass turfs came from Tooting Common. Surrey County Cricket Club was established in 1845.

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 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 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.

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

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 have still yet to play a Test match at the Oval.

Cricket, WG Grace, 1891– Kennington Oval

The Oval is referenced by the poet Philip Larkin in his poem about the First World War, "MCMXIV". During World War II, The Oval was requisitioned. Initially, it housed searchlights. It was then turned into a prisoner of war camp, which was intended to hold enemy parachutists. However, since they never came, the Oval was never used for this purpose.

The first One Day International match at this venue was played on 7 September 1973 between England and West Indies. It hosted 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. 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 Great Britain.

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.

The famous gasholders just outside The Oval's wall are actually newer than the ground by several years, having been built around 1853. Now disused, there has been much speculation of late as to whether they should be demolished; however, many believe they are an integral part of The Oval's landscape and, therefore, their future looks secure.

End names

The North-western end of The Oval is known as the Vauxhall end, as Vauxhall station is situated just outside the grounds in this direction. The opposite end (South-east) is known as the Pavilion end, as it is the location of the members' pavilion.

21st century redevelopment

Surrey v Yorkshire (OCS stand in background)

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, currently known as the OCS stand, as it is sponsored by Outsourced Client Solutions International Facilities Management Services. This work was completed in May 2005 and increased 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. 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. These plans were delayed by objections raised by the Health & Safety Executive as the ground is close to a gasometer. Planning permission was eventually granted, but not before the credit crunch struck. In 2009, permanent floodlights were installed for use in day/night matches. The floodlights are telescopic and are retracted when not in use.

After the conclusion of the 2013 season a new project to add 'wings' to either side of the OCS Stand at the Vauxhall End of the ground was started. The development was finished in time for the start of the 2014 season. Each 'wing' added 500 seats which brought the capacity up from 23,500 to 24,500.

In September 2015 the Peter May and Tony Lock stands were demolished. The new development is one new much larger stand named after Peter May. May led Surrey to their sixth and seventh consecutive County Championships in 1957 and 1958 and also captained England from 1955 to 1961, winning the Ashes in 1956. The club renamed the Laker Stand as the Lock/Laker Stand, continuing to honour the contribution made by the spin partnership of Tony Lock and Jim Laker, who collectively took 3,108 wickets for the club.

Construction of the new Peter May stand, which cost around £10m, began in September 2015 and officially opened on the 15th May, 2016. It increases the capacity of the ground by 1,500 seats to 26,000.

Football

The Oval was also an important site in the historical development of football, before a separate national stadium was constructed specifically for the sport. 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 the game.

First international football match

See also: England v Scotland representative football matches (1870–72)

The Oval was home to the first ever international football match on 5 March 1870, England against Scotland, organised by The Football Association. 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 8 March 1873, the England national team beat Scotland 4–2. England would continue to play occasionally at The Oval until 1889.

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

Date	Result	Competition	Winner
5 March 1870	1–1	Friendly	Draw
19 November 1870	1–0	Friendly
25 February 1871	1–1	Friendly	Draw
17 November 1871	2–1	Friendly
24 February 1872	1–0	Friendly
8 March 1873	4–2	Friendly
6 March 1875	2–2	Friendly	Draw
3 March 1877	1–3	Friendly
5 April 1879	5–4	Friendly
12 March 1881	1–6	Friendly
21 March 1885	1–1	Home International	Draw
13 April 1889	2–3	Home International

First FA Cup final

On 16 March 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. 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).

Results of FA Cup finals at The Oval

Year	Attendance	Winner		Runner-up		Notes
1872	2,000	Wanderers	1	Royal Engineers	0
1874	2,000	Oxford University	2	Royal Engineers	0
1875	3,000	Royal Engineers	1	Old Etonians	1
Replay	3,000	Royal Engineers	2	Old Etonians	0
1876	3,500	Wanderers	1	Old Etonians	1
Replay	1,500	Wanderers	3	Old Etonians	0
1877	3,000	Wanderers	2	Oxford University	1
1878	4,500	Wanderers	3	Royal Engineers	1
1879	5,000	Old Etonians	1	Clapham Rovers	0
1880	6,000	Clapham Rovers	1	Oxford University	0
1881	4,500	Old Carthusians	3	Old Etonians	0
1882	6,500	Old Etonians	1	Blackburn Rovers	0
1883	8,000	Blackburn Olympic	2	Old Etonians	1
1884	12,000	Blackburn Rovers	2	Queen's Park	1
1885	12,500	Blackburn Rovers	2	Queen's Park	0
1886	15,000	Blackburn Rovers	0	West Bromwich Albion	0	2–0 in the replay at the Racecourse Ground, Derby
1887	15,500	Aston Villa	2	West Bromwich Albion	0
1888	19,000	West Bromwich Albion	2	Preston North End	1
1889	22,000	Preston North End	3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0
1890	20,000	Blackburn Rovers	6	Sheffield Wednesday	1
1891	23,000	Blackburn Rovers	3	Notts County	1
1892	32,810	West Bromwich Albion	3	Aston Villa	0

Rugby

An illustration of an 1872 England vs Scotland rugby match. The background right shows the distinctive gas holder of The Oval

Between 1872 and 1879, The Oval held 7 full cap international rugby union matches, as follows:

Date	Competition	Home team		Away team
5 February 1872		England	1G	Scotland	2G
23 February 1874		England	1G	Scotland	0G
15 February 1875		England	2G	Ireland	0G
6 March 1876		England	1G	Scotland	0G
5 February 1877	1877 Home Nations Championship	England	2G	Ireland	0G
4 March 1878	1878 Home Nations Championship	England	0G	Scotland	0G
24 March 1879	1879 Home Nations Championship	England	3G	Ireland	0G

On Wednesday 3 March 1875, The Oval held the final of the United Hospitals Challenge Cup, the oldest rugby union cup competition in the world.

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.

Other events

The ground has also hosted other events, including 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. In 2005, a record crowd for Australian rules football in England (18,884) saw the Fremantle Dockers defeat the West Coast Eagles. In 2012, approximately 10,000 were in attendance for a post-season exhibition match between Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, which Port Adelaide won by 1 point.

In October 2011, the ground served as the practice facility for the NFL's Chicago Bears.

Oval gasometer and gasworks

A nearby Victorian gasometer has marked the view from the grounds since the 1800s. A movement to preserve the iconic gasometers across Britain has emerged in recent years with the one visible from The Oval often cited as a landmark example. The skeletal but decorative structure is a landmark in the area and has become part of The Oval's history and allure. The famed cricket commentator Henry Blofeld once said in a broadcast, "As the bowler runs in, it’s so quiet you can hear the creak of the gasometer." When plans to demolish the aging structure were announced in 2013, he stated: “In comparison, pulling down the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace would be child’s play.”

Transport connections

Service	Station/Stop	Lines/Routes served	Directions
London Buses	Oval Station	36, 185, 436	100 metres
	Camberwell New Road	155, 333	200 metres
	Oval Station	155, 333	190 metres
London Underground	Oval		190 metres
	Vauxhall		850 metres
National Rail		South West Trains

See also

• Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School – a historic school located next to the ground, often used as a vantage point for TV cameras and crews
• Gasworks Gallery, next to the ground
• History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883
• History of Test cricket from 1884 to 1889
• History of Test cricket from 1890 to 1900
• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
• List of Test cricket grounds

External links

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

Preceded by none	FA Cup Final Venue 1872	Succeeded by Lillie Bridge London
Preceded by Lillie Bridge London	FA Cup Final Venue 1874–1892	Succeeded by Fallowfield Manchester