Barbados

Cricket Grounds in West Indies

>> Kensington Oval

Location: (just outside) Bridgetown, Barbados

• Name of the Ends: Joel Garner End, Malcolm Marshall End
• Ground Capacity: 28,000 spectators
• Home Teams: West Indies, Barbados

Ground Profile

The Kensington Oval, popular among the local populace as the ‘Mecca of Cricket’ is one of the world’s major Test Cricket Centres. The ground has a cricket history of over a hundred years. The ground was formerly known as the Pickwick Cricket Club. The Pickwick Cricket Club is Barbados’ second oldest cricket club; it was established in 1882.

The ground saw major renovation work for the 2007 ICC World Cup which was held in the West Indies. A number of stands were renovated though the old names were mostly retained. The Kensington Oval bagged the honour of hosting the final of the ICC World Cup 2007, the first World Cup to be hosted by the West Indies.

The pitch at the Kensington Oval is fast and bouncy, though it is conducive to strokemaking and thus favours the batsmen more than the bowlers.

While this famous cricket ground has seen many big cricketing moments, the most memorable is Andy Sandham’s triple century in the 1929-30 season. Sandham’s 325 was the first ever instance of a batsman scoring a Triple Century in Test Cricket.

• 1st Test Match at Kensington Oval: West Indies vs England, 11th January 1930
• 1st One Day International: West Indies vs New Zealand, 23rd April 1985
• 1st Twenty20 International: West Indies vs Australia, 20th June 2008