The Kia Oval

Traditionally the Oval was a poor relation to Lords, an outhouse compared to the Palazzo but that is a Middlesex man speaking. This said there was never the same metro tribal football rivalry of Arsenal and Spurs. Whilst Lords was set in spacious grounds, the Oval was cramped. In recent years the Oval has caught up, certainly in the generation of income. Surrey’s revenue accounts for 25% of all generated by the Counties. They can take a £1m a day in bar takings. Middlesex of course only lease the right to play at Lords which has a turnover of £50m. Surrey can enjoy revenue not just from a summer test but the T20s too. The Oval is owned by the Prince Of Wales but Surrey have taken name rights from Kia.

I was there yesterday for a lunch and Royal London fixture between Surrey and Kent. Communications have much improved since the old days of the Oval tube station as Vauxhall is both on the Victoria line and main southern London rail network. One of the so called attractions of T20 and the new franchise is the younger audience. However at the Oval, I saw numerous groups of schoolchildren.

Unlike Lords I have never found the Oval architecturally aesthetic. It used to have a jumble of old stands but now there is one large modern one along one side. I was in the more Victorian Pavilion. We had a carvery lunch in the Alcock room with a delicious beetroot cured smoked salmon and lamb for the carvery. Sadly because of the rain there was broken play. Surrey did win on the Duckworth Lewis method. A combination of afternoon fatigue and a long rail journey home persuaded me to leave after lunch.

There has been in the last 10 years a genuine shift in cricket to being more venue based. When at Edgbaston for the test last summer a ex-Warwickshire committee member complained to me that it was all about generating revenue for the ground. Warwickshire like Lancashire became massively indebted to improve the ground for its test match status whilst poor Durham were relegated making no money after having to fork out nearly £1m for the right to host a test match. Fair play to the Surrey committee for maximising their Oval revenue and creating a modern stadium fit for purpose.