The historic cricket Oval in Southwark Park will be restored before the start of next season following collaboration between the council and Surrey County Cricket Club.

The agreement was announced at a celebration to honour what would have been the 150th birthday of Bobby Abel, one of Surrey’s all time greats and the greatest cricketer ever to come out of Southwark.

Abel – who remains Surrey’s fifth highest run scorer of all time – played for the local first class team between 1881 and 1904, scoring 27,609 runs. He also played thirteen times for England, becoming the first person ever to ‘carry his bat’ through an entire innings.

People attending the ‘birthday party’ – organised by Phil Burkett of Bermondsey Beat – included former England captain Mike Gatting, Mayor of Southwark Bob Skelly and Surrey wicket keeper batsman Jonathan Batty.

Jonathan Batty talks cricket with Mark Church

A council ‘blue plaque’ has been erected on the side of the Café Gallery in Southwark Park (formerly the park’s cricket pavilion) to honour Abel’s memory and the place he learned his trade.

In recent decades, the pitch has fallen into serious disrepair and is currently unusable for cricketing purposes. However, in a deal which mirrors a recent partnership between Surrey and Lambeth Council (which led to a major regeneration of the cricketing facilities in Kennington Park), an artificial wicket will shortly be installed, allowing the pitch to be used by schools and individuals.

Following the installation of the artificial wicket, Surrey and the council intend to work together to improve the surroundings of the pitch, eventually setting up a Southwark Park Cricket Club who would take responsibility for the upkeep of the facilities.

George Foster, Community Manager, said, “We certainly want to get the first wheels in motion and get an artificial wicket down there for the start of next season.

“In the long term we’d like to establish a club there who can take control of the pitch and look after the square.

“2008 will be the very early stages but there will some kind of provision there that hopefully schools can use or some people can just pitch up and play at.”

To read more about the event, please visit www.southwarknews.co.uk

By John Surtees at Southwark News

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