The Oval
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Image:Gasholders at the Oval.JPG The Oval, Template:Coor dms, is a cricket ground in Kennington, London. It has often been traditionally referred to as the 'Kennington Oval', but in recent years it has officially been known as the 'Fosters Oval', 'AMP Oval,' and currently as the 'Brit Oval' due to various commercial sponsorship deals.
It is the home ground for Surrey. The nearest tube station is also called Oval, but the ground can also be easily reached from Vauxhall.
The Oval traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer in late August or early September.
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History
Image:Clock outside the Pavilion at the Oval.JPG Image:Crowd leaves the Oval.JPG In 1844, Kennington Oval was a market garden. The Oval was (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.
The first ever Test match in England was played at the Oval in 1880 between England and Australia. 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 duly led to 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.
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.
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.
During the Second World War, the Oval was intended for use as a prisoner of war camp, although it was never employed as such.
End names
The names of the ends are the Pavilion End and the Vauxhall End.
Vauxhall End development
Image:OCS Stand (Surrey v Yorkshire in foreground).JPG Image:OCS Stand at the Oval from the Peter May Stand.JPG 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 large, state-of-the-art, four tier grandstand. This work was completed in May 2005, increasing ground capacity to around 23,000. Image:OCS Stand from the Bedser Stand at the Oval.JPG
Football
The Oval has also been an important site in the development of football, before the game had its own separate national stadium. On March 16 1872, The Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 to win the first ever FA Cup. The Oval continued to host all FA Cup finals (1873 excepted) up until 1892.
A year after that first FA Cup final, on March 8 1873, the England national team played its first home match at the Oval, against Scotland. Their 4-2 win was the first victory in international competition. England would continue to play occasionally at the Oval until 1889.
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 holds an exhibition match for Australian Rules Football in October each year , usually between the better performing Australian teams, or to show the rivalry between certain clubs. In 2005, a record crowd for Australian Rules Football in England (19,000) saw the Fremantle Football Club defeat the West Coast Eagles.
Baseball
The Oval is currently being considered as a potential site to host a small number of regular season Major League Baseball games during the 2007 season. MLB is also considering sites in Rome, Paris, Munich, Germany, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. Regular season games previously have been played in international sites in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Japan.
See also
- 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)