The Oval | |||
Ground information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Location | Kensington, Dunedin, New Zealand | ||
Establishment | 1860 (as South Dunedin Recreation Ground) | ||
Team information | |||
| |||
As of 3 November 2011 Source: Ground profile |
The Kensington Oval, formerly known as the South Dunedin Recreation Ground, is a park and sports ground in Kensington, Dunedin, New Zealand. [1] It is also known as just The Oval, although this name has become less common in recent years due to the potential confusion with the University Oval in the north of the city. [2]
The Kensington Oval is officially regarded as the southern end of the city's Town Belt. The park, which is actually roughly triangular in shape, covers 9.25 hectares (22.9 acres). [1] It is bounded by Princes Street, the northern end of Anderson's Bay Road, and the Dunedin Southern Motorway. Its name dates from 22 March 1864, when it was decided to enclose the main cricket pitch within a formal oval. [1] From that time the former name rapidly fell out of use, and has been rarely used since the beginning of the twentieth century.
The city's Boer War memorial, which stands at the northern corner of the Oval, was designed by Carlo Bergamini and erected in November 1906. [3] [4]
The first recorded first-class match cricket match was held on the ground in February 1864 when Otago played Canterbury in what was the first ever first-class match to be held in New Zealand. Otago played eight further first-class matches there, the last of which saw them play Canterbury in February 1878. [5] The condition of the playing surface was generally unsatisfactory, with old tree roots protruding from the ground and the pitch unpredictable and at times dangerous to batsmen. [6] In 1879 the Otago Cricket Association requested that the Dunedin City Council make improvements to the ground. [7] When the Council decided not to make improvements, and refused to restrict access to the ground to cricket only, the Association decided to find another venue to play at. [7] The enclosing bounds of the oval were removed in about 1899.
Although representative matches are no longer played at the Kensington Oval, it is widely used for club, grade, and social cricket, and has two grass and three artificial wickets, [8] as well as a pavilion. It is also used for softball in summer, and for football and rugby union in winter.
In mid-May 2024, Dunedin's growing homeless problem led to the emergence of a tent encampment consisting of 11–22 tents in Kensington Oval. [9]
Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. In 1922, Carisbrook hosted the first international football match between Australia and New Zealand. The hosts won 3-1.
Princes Street is a major street in Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs south-southwest for two kilometres from The Octagon in the city centre to the Oval sports ground, close to the city's Southern Cemetery. North of The Octagon, George Street continues the line of Princes Street north-northeast for two and a half kilometres. Princes Street is straight but undulating, skirting the edge of the City Rise to its northwest. The part of the street immediately below The Octagon is the steepest section, as the road traverses an old cutting through Bell Hill.
The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zealand's South Island. Their main governing board is the Otago Cricket Association which is one of six major associations that make up New Zealand Cricket.
This article describes the history of New Zealand cricket to 1890.
An English team raised by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured New Zealand between December 1906 and March 1907. The tour comprised two first-class matches against New Zealand, two each against the four main provincial teams – Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Wellington – and one against Hawke's Bay. There were also five minor matches against teams from country areas.
The University of Otago Oval is a sports ground located at Logan Park, Dunedin, New Zealand, and owned by the Dunedin City Council. It was opened by Sir Louis Barnett on 5 April 1930. The ground was originally owned by the University of Otago, but ownership was transferred to the city council when a redevelopment was completed in the early 2000s.
Francis James Reeder was an English-born New Zealand cricketer who played for Canterbury.
Kensington is a small suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, nestled to the south of a hilly spur between the central city and the major suburb of South Dunedin, some 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) to the south of the city centre. The suburb was named for the leafy London suburb, possibly by John Hyde Harris, who subdivided the area in the 1860s.
The Town Belt is a green belt which surrounds the centre of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Covering a total of over 200 hectares, it extends around three sides of the city's centre at a distance from it of some 1–3 km (1-2 mi) in a broad 7 km (4 mi) crescent from the Oval at Kensington in the south through the suburbs of Mornington, City Rise, Belleknowes, Roslyn, Maori Hill, Prospect Park, Glenleith, Woodhaugh, The Gardens and Dunedin North and the slopes of Signal Hill. The fourth side of the central city is bounded by the Otago Harbour.
The Caledonian Ground, often simply known as "The Caley", is a major sports venue in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is primarily used for football (soccer) and athletics, and has a capacity of 7,500.
Hagley Oval is a cricket ground in Hagley Park in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1867, when Canterbury cricket team hosted Otago cricket team. Canterbury used the ground infrequently from then through until the 1920s, but hardly stopped during World War I.
The Otago Sparks is the women's cricket representative team for the New Zealand region of Otago and the surrounding area. They play their home games at University Oval, Dunedin. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's Super Smash Twenty20 competition.
Village Green was a cricket venue in Christchurch, part of the sporting complex at Queen Elizabeth II Park. Between 1999 and 2011 it staged 31 first-class and 20 List A matches, as well as 28 matches in the women's inter-provincial one-day competition. It was often used for Canterbury's matches when Lancaster Park was unavailable. The ground was so severely damaged in the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake that it could no longer be used.
Rangiora Recreation Ground is a cricket ground in Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Gerald George Austin was a New Zealand cricketer. He played 29 first-class matches for Otago between 1896 and 1913.
William Henry Lathbury was an English-born cricketer who played one first-class match in New Zealand for Otago during the 1875–76 season.
James Campbell Thomson was a New Zealand cricketer. He played two first-class matches for Otago during the 1873–74 season.
Homelessness in New Zealand has been linked to the general issue of lack of suitable housing. The homeless population is generally measured through the country's census and by universities and other academic centres. In 2009, urban homelessness were estimated at less than 300, while rural homelessness was estimated between 500 and 1000. An additional 8,000–20,000 live in "temporary accommodation unsuited for long-term habitation ." Homelessness in New Zealand has traditionally been reduced by the provision of state housing, similar to Germany and other developed countries.
David Alexander Ashby was an English-born cricketer who played first-class cricket for Surrey in England in 1874, and Canterbury in New Zealand from 1876 to 1890.
The Australian cricket team toured New Zealand in January and February 1881. The Australians played ten matches against provincial teams, nine of which fielded 22 players with the aim of providing more evenly-matched contests. Two further brief matches were played to fill the allotted time after a scheduled match finished early. As none of the matches were 11-a-side they are not considered to have been first-class.