Universally known as the Mecca of Caribbean
cricket, home for all fans in Barbados. Further
recognized as one of the must-visited
venues in the West Indies due its importance and
history.
Kensington Oval is located in the western part
of Bridgetown, Barbados. It is the pre-eminent
sporting facility on the island and is primarily used
for cricket having hosted many important and
exciting cricket games between local, regional,
and international teams during its more than 120-
year history.
Cricket at the Oval began in 1882 when the
Pickwick Cricket Club assumed formal 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.
In 2004, the STRI construction team was chosen to
redevelop the Kensington Oval outfield, after they were
previously involved with the Lord’s Cricket Ground outfield
reconstruction. The topsoil on the grounds previous
outfield was a sandy clay loam, which struggled to cope
with Bridgetown’s occasional heavy rainfall, with climate
data indicating that a storm lasting up to an hour could
dump about 50mm of rain once every five years. The
topsoil was a complete mixture of soils and significantly
varied in depth, lying over ancient coral reef limestone.
The new outfield consists of; 175mm of amended rootzone,
125mm of unamended root-zone sand, a 50mm
blinding layer and a 100mm gravel drainage layer.
Although many types of grass options were suggested to
be used for the outfield, it was decided to use Tifway 419
hybrid Bermuda grass as this type of grass is highly disease
resistant, dense and spreads quickly to ensure quick
recovery from injury and allows close mowing.
The pitch square was reconstructed with four main
individual pitches and a profile consisting of; 200mm
of clay, over 150mm of medium-fine sand along with a
gravel drainage layer. The square’s soil is made up of 71%
clay, 14% silt and 14% sand and during the redevelopment
it was isolated from the rest of the ground so that it could
be constructed before the outfield was completed. The
pitch square was sown down with Princess Bermuda grass,
with the base and soil added in layers, before completion
in May 2006.
The stands of the Kensington Oval were also extensively
rebuilt for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in a BDS$90M (US$45
Million) redevelopment. Demolition of the old stadium
began on schedule in June 2006 after completion of the
first Test against Pakistan.
Host of the 2007 final, the Kensington Oval was also the
host venue for the 2010 ICC World T20 where England
beat Australia. The Oval also serves as home
ground of the Barbados Pride and the CPL’s
Barbados Tridents!
The Kensington Oval has also hosted many non-cricket
events, such as matches of the Barbados
national football team, hockey, inter-school
athletics, Miss Barbados pageants, and concert
events. The ground also has a jumbo TV screen
and also a jacuzzi 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, which has a bunker
underneath for the media.
On 5 August 2011 Rihanna performed at the
Kensington Oval for the first time in her home
country on her Loud Tour. She planned another
show for 1 November 2013 as a part her Diamonds
World Tour, however the concert was canceled
due to technical difficulties.
During the forthcoming 2024 ICC T20 World Cup
Kensington Oval will host five Group Stage matches,
the most interesting of which will undoubtedly be
the June 8 Australia – England arch-rivals clash. The
Oval will also host three Super8 matches as wll as
the June 29 tournament final.