Kensington Oval
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The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket.
The Kensington Oval referred to as "The Mecca" of Cricket locally has hosted many important cricket games, and seen many exciting matches and upsets between local, regional, and international teams during its over 120 year history. Cricket at the Oval began in 1882 when the Pickwick Cricket Club assumed ownership of the ground. The first international match held was in 1895 when Slade Lucas' side visited the island. The first Test match was held in January 1930, when the West Indies and England played to a draw. Since the genesis there have been a total of 43 Test matches played on the Kensington Oval grounds, 21 of those matches won by the West Indian cricket team.
The large stands which makeup the Kensington Oval were rebuilt, for the 2007 Cricket World Cup which is being held in the Caribbean region. Demolition of the old stadium began on schedule in June, 2005 after the first Test against Pakistan. As of July 20, 2005 only three of the ten stands still physically remain on the Kensington Oval -- those being: The Hall and Griffith, the Mitchie Hewitt and the new Carib Beer-sponsored Stands.
The names of the former stands which made up the Kensington stadium were the Carib Beer-sponsored stand, the Eric Inniss, the Garfield Sobers Players Pavilion, the George Challenor, the Hall and Griffith, the Kensington, the Mitchie Hewitt, the Pickwick, the Three Ws Stand and the Peter Short Media Centre.
The new proposed Kensington stadium will seat 28,000 persons and be the venue for the 2007 Cricket World Cup final. The grounds in and around the stadium are earmarked for a BDS$90M (US$45 Million) redevelopment programme to prepare for an estimated 20,000 spectators visiting the island for the 2007 World Cup event. The Kensington Oval has also hosted many non-cricket events like football, hockey, inter-school athletics, Miss Barbados pageants, and concert events. The ground also has a jumbo TV screen and also a jacuzi type area, for fans to watch while relaxing in the pool (similar to Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona). Behind this is a large grassy hill for fans to have picnics on, but it is actually has a bunker underneath as well for the media.
[edit] External links
- Kensington stands renamed: 9th, November 2006 - CBC Barbados
- Oval to be fully hi-tech: 8th, March 2006 - Barbados Nation News
- Photo of the new Kensington Oval
- Kensington Oval profile
| Venues of the 2007 Cricket World Cup West Indies |
|---|
| Warner Park (St. Kitts and Nevis) • Queen's Park Oval (Port of Spain) • Beausejour Stadium (Saint Lucia) • Sabina Park (Kingston) • Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua and Barbuda) • Providence Stadium (Guyana) • Kensington Oval (Bridgetown) |
