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Surrey announce plans to increase the Oval capacity to 40,000

A view of the pavilion in the afternoon sunshine during play in the ICC Champions trophy cricket match between England and Bangladesh at The Oval in London
Image: The Oval pavilion in the afternoon sunshine

Surrey have announced plans to increase the capacity of the Kia Oval from 25,500 to 40,000 in time for the 2023 Ashes series.

The stadium would become the largest cricket venue in Britain, overtaking Lord's, which is considering expansion plans of its own to grow to a 32,000-capacity ground.

Surrey said their proposal includes the replacement of the compact Bedser Stand with an 8,000-seat facility, while also boosting capacity in its OCS Stand.

Club chief executive Richard Gould said: "Our business has taken off over the last five years and our reserves have quadrupled in size along with significantly higher profits.

"This has largely been driven through T20 cricket and an increase in our non-matchday business, but sales for international cricket also remain very strong.

"Most of our major games now sell out, either for county cricket or international cricket, and we need more seats to meet demand."

The South African (L) and Sri Lankan players stand during the playing of the national anthems before the third One Day International match of the ICC Champ
Image: The ground is being used for the current ICC Champions Trophy

The club said work could start in late 2019, after a summer that includes the World Cup and England's next home Ashes series. The Oval will stage the opening match of that year's World Cup.

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The Oval also stages this year's Champions Trophy final on June 18, and Surrey chairman Richard Thompson said: "The time is now right for cricket to think on a bigger scale.

"We have already received a positive response from early discussions with the ECB and our landlord, the Duchy of Cornwall. We will now work up more detailed proposals and financial models to share with our wider group of stakeholders."

The MCC, which owns Lord's, is consulting members about proposals to raise its own capacity.

One idea includes the building of two blocks of flats adjacent to the Nursery Ground to fund ground development, and the other which would develop another area of Lord's using the club's own financial resources, costing £89m.

Watch New Zealand take on Bangladesh in Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Friday, June 9.

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