The Kensington Oval, formerly known as the South Dunedin Recreation Ground, is a park and sports ground in Kensington,

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.Herd, J., and Griffiths, G.J., (1980) ''Discovering Dunedin.'' Dunedin: John McIndoe. . p. 90 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. 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 . It is bounded by Princes Street, the northern end of Anderson's Bay Road, and the

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. Its name dates from 22 March 1864, when it was decided to enclose the main cricket pitch within a formal oval. From that time the former name rapidly fell out of use, and has been rarely used since the beginning of the twentieth century. The first recorded first-class match cricket match was held on the ground in February 1864 when Otago played

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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. 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. In 1879 the Otago Cricket Association requested that the

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make improvements to the ground. 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. The enclosing bounds of the oval were removed in about 1899. Boer_War_Memorial,_Dunedin,_NZ

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, as well as a pavilion. It is also used for softball in summer, and for football and rugby union in winter. The city's

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

memorial, which stands at the northern corner of the Oval, was designed by Carlo Bergamini and erected in November 1906.Otago South African War memorial in Dunedin
NZ History.net (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), 15 July 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2015.

References

External links

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South Dunedin Recreation Ground
at CricketArchive {{coord, 45, 53, 15.42, S, 170, 29, 53.36, E, type:landmark_scale:2000_region:NL, display=title 1860 establishments in New Zealand Cricket grounds in New Zealand Sports venues in Dunedin Parks in Dunedin