The Oval cricket ground has earned the distinction of being the venue for the first Test match ever played on British soil. Certainly the heart of English Cricket, the Oval is situated in Kennington, London and has had various different names over the years depending on the ground’s different sponsorships, including AMP Oval, the Fosters Oval and the Brit Oval. So much is the impact of the Oval on cricket and related modern sports that it has been nicknamed the ‘Grand Old Lady’.
The historic venue has hosted many a high profile international sporting events and other reputed domestic events of different sports. The name comes from the famous ‘oval’ shape of the ground which dates back to 1790 when an oval road was constructed around a cabbage garden and also later a market garden. Following several unsuccessful building projects the Oval was finally inaugurated as a cricket ground in the year 1846 when the Montpelier Club from the ground was shifted to Walworth.
Consistently owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, the Oval saw its first county cricket club in 1845 when the Surrey County Cricket Club was formed. The ground was then leased to Surrey for 120 pounds per annum for a 31 year period, additional costs included 300 pounds for turfing the ground.
The year 1868 was crucial for English cricket as a whole as the Oval hosted the first ever match played by a visiting team. This occasion drew a large crowd of over 20,000 people and was relatively a huge success. Gradually the Oval flourished as an active venue for national and international cricket and saw several visiting teams including Australia in 1880, and again in 1882 which started the Ashes tournament. English public was utterly unpleased and frustrated by their home team’s performance, which led to a local press to publish a fake obituary for English cricket. This embarrassment on home soil resulted in a subsequent tour of Australia where the English eventually won. Captain Ivo Bligh received a small terracotta urn, supposedly to hold the Ashes.
The Oval underwent construction over the years and the current pavilion at was built in 1896. Following Australia, South Africa were the second visiting national team in 1907 and then many others including the West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1931, India in 1936, Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998. Almost all cricketing nations have played at the Oval except Bangladesh and Zimbabwe who have never played a single game at The Oval.
The Oval has also been hosting several non cricket activities since its formation, like during World War II it was to be for a prisoner of war camp which never happened. Apart from cricket and other related activities, the Oval has also hosted football matches, particularly in 1872 when the first ever FA cup final was played at the venue. It also hosted the FA cup finals between 1872 to 1892.
The Oval is under constant renovation down the years and in 2005 a new stand was built to increase the capacity to 23,000 spectators.