The five most eagerly awaited cricket matches for a generation are about to begin at Lord’s and will reach their climax at the Oval – which has been splendidly revamped for the occasion.
The start of the Ashes is just 27 days away, but while the sports pages fret over the form of the England team, there is one English cricketing institution that is in undeniably good nick. Last Thursday, at the opening one-day international between England and Bangladesh, the Brit Oval proudly unveiled its £25m OCS Stand, a four-storey 14,500-seat sweep of ice-white steel that occupies the Vauxhall End and seems to bend round half the ground. When the Australians arrive here in September for the final test of the summer, they might not recognise the old place.
The Oval has never been a pretty ground. While Lord’s attracted big-name architects such as Future Systems, Hopkins and Grimshaw, the south London ground remained an absent-minded collection of terraces and temporary stands overshadowed by the famous old gasholder. Moreover, spectators have always grumbled about the shallow rake of the seating and the vast expanses of outfield, which combined to give the impression of watching the game through the wrong end of a telescope.
Three years ago, Surrey County Cricket Club decided to do something about its ground’s flaws, and engaged HOK Sport and Millersport to work out a solution. And, as the largely Bangladesh-supporting crowd cranked up the decibels last Thursday, it was clear that something had changed. Although the buzz around the ground could be partly explained by the relentless optimism of the spectators, the stadium design added to the atmosphere. As Sam Streatfeild, the Oval’s communications director, points out, the stand’s tapered crescent shape helps to amplify the crowd noise within the stadium. “I came up here for a Sunday league game recently, and the noise generated by 1500 people was unbelievable,” he says.
The other change to the ground that may wake up the commentators is a fairly fundamental E E one – namely that the Oval is no longer an oval. Eight acres have been shorn off the outfield to make way for the new stand, turning the playing surface into a more intimate bowl, with boundaries that even the most tentative England batsman should be able to reach.
One man who would appreciate this makeover more than most is Alec Stewart, who has played at the Oval for more than two decades. In fact, so synonymous is he with Surrey cricket that the new gates to the ground have been named after him. “Compared with what was there before, it’s out of sight, a huge improvement,” Stewart says. “It was such a rundown area – a bombsite. There were temporary boxes, which then became permanent temporary boxes. Now we’ve got a £23m facility that provides everything.”
It was such a rundown area – a bombsite. Now we’ve got a £23m facility that provides everything
Alec Stewart
As England’s most capped test cricketer, Stewart is also in an unrivalled position to compare the new Oval with the greatest test grounds in the world, particularly the enormous temples to cricket in Australia and India. “From a player’s perspective, it’s one of the best in the world, along with Eden Gardens in Calcutta and the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground]. The new stand will make such a difference – it’ll feel like the crowd is right on top of you.”
Stewart suggests the ground may be in a position to give its swanky north London neighbour a run for its money: “Lord’s is the home of cricket, but the Oval is definitely the number two ground in the country. Visiting sides always say they want to play at the Oval.
As host to the final test of the summer, there’s always a full house and a bit of a party atmosphere.”
Tawhid Qureshi, a Bangladesh supporter at the revamped ground’s opening game, agrees with the former England captain: “It’s always had a better atmosphere than Lord’s. Lord’s is very beautiful, but you’re not allowed to have a good time.”
The Oval’s party atmosphere continues inside the new stand. Addressing the most immediate needs of cricket spectators, Streatfeild says: “We’ve got more bars, more food kiosks and new kitchens. Before, we just had a bar underneath and a couple of chip vans.” The upper three storeys are given over to banqueting suites, a media centre and corporate hospitality boxes, where padded seating ensures that the corporate bottom stays in tip-top condition.
We had an awful lot of work in stage one – it was very tight but we did it
Peter Dracup, Taylor Woodrow
Continuing up past the third and fourth floors, the stand becomes an al fresco dining area decked in elegant clay blocks. From here, the gourmand cricket fan has unrivalled views of the play and, from the back of the stand, looking over a vast four-storey 120 m “living screen” of climbing and trailing plants, of the London Eye turning slowly above the Thames. On a clear day, you can see the London skyline’s other famous piece of steel, the Wembley arch.
Perhaps more impressively, says Streatfeild, you can also now see the Oval from Wembley – a visible sign of cricket’s rising status in British sport.
The comparisons with Wembley end there, however. The International Olympic Committee might be interested to know that this is an example of a British sporting arena completed on time – not once but twice. Main contractor Taylor Woodrow had to complete the foundation work and the first tier of stands in time for the England vs West Indies test match last September. Peter Dracup, Taylor Woodrow’s customer director, says: “We had the choice of putting up temporary stands last summer, but we decided to complete the build in two stages. We had to do an awful lot of work in stage one – it was very tight, but we did it.”
As Marcus Trescothick stroked the winning runs for England last Thursday in the shadow of the new stand and its 250 m long tubular steel roof, it was evident that Taylor Woodrow had repeated the trick. The contractor’s work may be drawing to a close, but England will be back here in September for the small matter of the final Ashes test. Is it possible that this elegantly transformed ground will be the setting of a famous England victory? Stewart is cautiously optimistic: “If it starts 0-0, we’ve got a chance, don’t you think?”
Project team
concept architect HOK Sport
detailed architectural design Millersport
structural design SKM Anthony Hunts
project manager Drivas Jonas
planning supervisor Gleeds
main contractor Taylor Woodrow
Howzat?
Stands are, or course, for spectators. So what did the customers at the England vs Bangladesh one-day match think of their new home?
I came to a test match a couple of years ago and it was torrid. I’ve just had a look around, and it’s very impressive. And it’s very quick to get a drink
Ian Willard, from Croydon
It looks very nice compared with what was there before, although the roof should be further down so spectators can get away from the rain
Adil Chowdhury
I saw a match here a couple of months ago, and there’s been a hell of a lot of change
Hasan Qurashi
We were here last year and it’s a big improvement. But it’s no Portland Road, is it?
Stuart Holland, (ironic Ipswich Town supporter)
Too much roof, and not covering enough seats. The roof only seems to cover a small area
Neil Sebba
Meanwhile, in St John’s Wood …
While the Oval has struggled to refine its image over the years, its aristocratic north London cousin Lord’s has had architects falling over one another to work there. In the past 20 years, the Hopkins-designed Mound Stand and Grimshaw’s Grandstand have emerged to dominate opposing sides of the ground. Most recently, Future System’s space-age media centre has subverted the ground’s air of stately gentility.
To the casual observer, it might have seemed that nothing more needed doing – even the outfield was relaid three years ago. However, during the close season, contractor MICE Sames has been busy completing an £8.2m refurbishment of the ground’s grade II-listed pavilion, which was designed by architect Frank Verity and completed in 1890, and is the home of the small urn of burnt cricket bails that England and Australia battle over every two years. The project included the construction of a roof terrace, refurbishment of the players’ dressing rooms and the restoration of the historic Long Room, where MCC members have spluttered unfavourable judgments of the state of English cricket into their gin and tonics for more than 100 years. With that in mind, perhaps most importantly, the project also involved reconnecting the Long Room and Long Room bar.
The other significant aspect of the project was the restoration of the two pavilion turrets to their original use as elegant viewing areas. Until recent years, they had been used to house the media, but with the men of the press now safely housed away at the Nursery End of the ground they have been cleared to provide members with two of the finest views in cricket.
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