U19 Venue Feature: Cobham Oval
The 48-match event is the third U19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, which previously hosted the 2002 and 2010 editions. Christchurch is the only city that has multiple venues, with matches slotted at the Hagley Oval, Rangiora Oval, Bert Sutcliffe Oval and Lincoln No. 3.
Matches in Queenstown will be played at the John Davies Oval, while the fixtures in Tauranga and Whangarei will be played at the Bay Oval and the Cobham Oval respectively.
With the first match between Pakistan and Afghanistan set to take place in Whangarei, what better place to start than by featuring Cobham Oval?
**Ground Name:**Cobham Oval
**Capacity:**5,500
**Location:**Whangarei, New Zealand
Cobham Oval is situated in New Zealand's northern-most city, Whangarei, and has two ovals. The first, which only hosts first-class matches, will be the venue for the ICC U19 World Cup 2018 and has never hosted an international match. The second, granted international status in 2011, has only hosted one men's One-Day International, between New Zealand and Zimbabwe in 2012. The venue also hosted a two-day warm up between New Zealand XI sides and India in 2014, another against Pakistan plus a T20 warm-up against England.
The Cobham Oval will host the opening match of the #U19CWC, when Afghanistan host Pakistan.
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) December 14, 2017
FEATURE: https://t.co/mrbBfcbXRC pic.twitter.com/L9O8Zq8j6l
But the most interesting aspect isn't that there are two grounds with the same name but the origin of the name itself. Charles Lyttelton, an English cricketer from one of the great cricketing families, became the captain of Worcestershire during the 1930s and was famous for his quick scoring and witty quotes about maintaining the same form against first-class and international bowlers. The word 'Cobham' came about because Lyttelton, while being a cricketer, was also the 10th Viscount Cobham and later on became the ninth Governor General of New Zealand, thus moving to Hagley and forever cementing his place in New Zealand cricket history.
U19 CWC fixtures
January 13: Afghanistan v Pakistan
January 14: Ireland v Sri Lanka
January 16: Ireland v Pakistan
January 17: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka
January 19: Pakistan v Sri Lanka
January 20: Afghanistan v Ireland
Click here to view full fixtures.
