Kennington Oval

London, England

The Oval Cricket Ground, Kennington, London, SE 11 5SS (Phone: 020-3946-0100)

Also or formerly known as The Oval; The AMP Oval; The Foster's Oval; The Brit Oval; The Kia Oval
Established 1845
Capacity 23500
Floodlights Yes, 2009
End names Pavilion End, Vauxhall End
Home teams England, Surrey
Current local time 02:24, Sun Nov 02, 2025 (UTC +0000)

Profile | Notes | Fixtures | Latest Articles | Latest Photos

Records and statistics

First Test	England v Australia - Sep 6-8, 1880	Scorecard
Last Test	England v India - Jul 31-Aug 4, 2025	Scorecard
Test records \| Results \| High totals \| High scores \| Most runs \| Best bowling \| Most wickets \| Partnerships \| Statsguru
First ODI	England v West Indies - Sep 7, 1973	Scorecard
Last ODI	England v West Indies - Jun 3, 2025	Scorecard
ODI records \| Results \| High totals \| High scores \| Most runs \| Best bowling \| Most wickets \| Partnerships \| Statsguru
First T20I	England v West Indies - Jun 28, 2007	Scorecard
Last T20I	England v Pakistan - May 30, 2024	Scorecard
T20I records \| Results \| High totals \| High scores \| Most runs \| Best bowling \| Most wickets \| Partnerships \| Statsguru
Records index

Profile

This is where it all began. The first-ever Test on English soil was played here in September 1880, resulting in an England win over Australia by five wickets, with WG Grace scoring a hundred on debut, and this is where a Test series in England traditionally ends.

More pertinently, this is the historic venue where the legend of the Ashes was born a couple of years after the inaugural Test, in August 1882. England, chasing only 85 to win, slumped from 51 for 2 to 78 all out. The next morning The Sporting Times published its famous mock obituary and the legend was born.

The Oval has witnessed many historic matches. England's dramatic one-wicket win in 1902 inspired by Gilbert Jessop's sensational hundred; Australia's 701 in 1930 as Don Bradman (244) and Bill Ponsford (266) put on 451 for the second wicket; England's 903 for 7 as they beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs in 1938; Bradman's farewell duck in 1948; Denis Compton scoring the boundary which meant England regained the Ashes in 1953; Michael Holding's 14 wickets on a featherbed in 1976; Devon Malcolm's 9 for 57 against South Africa in 1994.

Owned by the Duchy of Cornwall (who is the Prince of Wales, hence his feathers have appeared on Surrey's badge since 1915), The Oval came about in the 1790s when an oval road was laid round what was then a cabbage patch. When a subsequent market garden failed, the land was opened as a cricket ground in 1845 after 10,000 turfs were brought in from Tooting Common. It has been Surrey headquarters ever since, even though it has been well outside the county boundary for many years.

It has hosted many other important sporting occasions and can claim to be the most important general sports ground in the world. It staged the first FA Cup final in 1872 (won by Wanderers in front of 2000 spectators) and the following year the first England international (against Scotland). It was the home of the FA Cup final between 1874 and 1892. In 1876 it staged to the first England v Wales and England v Scotland rugby internationals, and in 1877 to rugby's Varsity match. In addition, it has witnessed rock concerts (The Who and The Faces in 1971), ice skating and the now traditional end-of-season Aussie Rules match. It was also a temporary home to prisoners in transit during the Second World War.

The ground itself is dominated by the gasometers on the east side. Until fairly recently the pavilion, built in 1890, and the Vauxhall stand were the only structures of any significance, with banks of open and fairly uncomfortable seating making up the rest of the spectator facilities. More recent developments, culminating in a £25 million development which started in 2004. It was much needed as the venue had suffered from underinvestment and had a feeling of decay about it.

Notes

Travel
Tube - Oval station (Northern line) is 200 yards from the ground
Train - Vauxhall station (on all major routes to and from Waterloo) is about 800 yards away
Car - Parking is limited (generally to four-hour meters) and expensive near the ground and in surrounding streets. Some local schools open their car parks but these are also not cheap
Map here (this will link to streetmap.co.uk page)
Hotels Click here

Fixtures

2026
Wed Jun 17 - Sun Jun 21 11:00 local \| 10:00 GMT 06:00 EDT \| 05:00 CDT \| 03:00 PDT	ICC World Test Championship 2nd Test - England v New Zealand
Sat Jun 27 (20 ovs) 18:30 local \| 17:30 GMT 13:30 EDT \| 12:30 CDT \| 10:30 PDT	ICC Women's T20 World Cup 28th Match, Group 2 - England Women v New Zealand Women
Tue Jun 30 (20 ovs) 14:30 local \| 13:30 GMT 09:30 EDT \| 08:30 CDT \| 06:30 PDT	ICC Women's T20 World Cup 1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Thu Jul 2 (20 ovs) 18:30 local \| 17:30 GMT 13:30 EDT \| 12:30 CDT \| 10:30 PDT	ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Sun Sep 27 (50 ovs) 10:30 local \| 09:30 GMT 05:30 EDT \| 04:30 CDT \| 02:30 PDT	3rd ODI - England v Sri Lanka
- Day and Night - International Matches - Covered by Cricinfo
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