Cricket is and will always be at the heart of West Indies sport. There is something special about the buzz—something different that affects not only the players, but the fans. The excitement, the joviality, the music, the characters, the ambience, the food and the atmosphere. No one parties at cricket like the West Indians!
There are elite stadiums all over the world—Lord’s of course, “The Home of Cricket”; Eden Gardens, Kolkata, “The Mecca of Indian cricket”; the SCG and MCG in Sydney and Melbourne with crowds of over 100,000; Newlands, Cape Town—all very special. But for us, it’s Kensington Oval, Barbados.
If you love cricket, you haven’t lived the dream until you watch cricket at the Oval.
Kensington Oval features stands that honour past and present stars who should be remembered for their contribution: the 3Ws Stand (Weekes, Worrell and Walcott), the Sir Garfield Sobers Pavilion, the Greenidge and Haynes Stand, the Hall and Griffith Stand, the Mitchie Hewitt Stand, and the Coppin, Cozier and Short Media Centre.
The Gift Shop in the 3Ws Stand and the nearby Legends Museum are “must see” attractions when you visit. Grantley Adams Airport also carries Legends souvenirs, and Best of Barbados gift shops islandwide stock cricket-branded merchandise.
Three imposing statues have been added in recent years at the front of Kensington Oval—Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Wesley Hall and Sir Charles Griffith—and they are probably the most photographed on the island. Don’t miss the opportunity to get your picture taken with these sporting icons.
The legacy of famous Barbadian cricketers will last forever, but ironically it does not include perhaps the greatest all-rounder, apart from Sir Garfield Sobers—Franklyn Stephenson. The reason has been well documented over the years, but what a player.
His fame was recognised in county cricket, winning the ‘double’—100 wickets and 1,000 runs—at Notts and Sussex, and being named Wisden Player of the Year in 1989. Many cricket experts rate him as the best cricketer never to earn a cap for the West Indies.
However, his legacy continues through the Franklyn Stephenson Academy on the West Coast, close to Sandy Lane Golf Course. The Academy welcomes hundreds of young cricketers from home and abroad, with teams playing regularly against schools and touring clubs. It has also hosted several English county teams for pre-season training and proudly coached Barbadian Jacob Bethell, the youngest England captain at just 21.
Barbados welcomes cricket tours for schools and clubs, and combining these with Test matches is a huge bonus. While only the elite play at Kensington Oval—such as during the Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools Tournament finals held annually in July—playing in the heart of rural Barbados is still a huge treat for visitors.
Clubs like Sir Conrad Hunte on the East Coast and Pickwick at Foursquare Distillery in St Philip are unique and extremely welcoming, offering a different kind of experience that’s truly Barbadian.
Yes, you haven’t lived the dream until you play—or watch—cricket in Barbados. Of course, the island boasts many other assets, but top of the list are the wonderful climate, happy and welcoming people, and the sand, sea and sunshine.
Our West Indies stars have not been around the Oval much over the past season. The life of a West Indies cricketer involves extensive travel. In 2025, the men’s team toured Ireland and England in June, played Australia across the Caribbean in July, faced Pakistan in Florida and Trinidad, and then travelled from September to December to Nepal, India, Bangladesh and New Zealand.
The women played in Pakistan in April in a six-match ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifying series, toured England and Ireland in May and June, and hosted South Africa in the Caribbean. In between, both men and women players featured in IPL and CPL matches.
In October 2025, legendary Joel Garner spoke at the State of the Tourism Industry Conference in Barbados about what is needed to promote a vibrant sports tourism cricket product. This includes revitalising the Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools Cricket Tournament.
He stressed that sports tourism is key, with events promoted globally as economic drivers for the island. It is vital to attract teams for practice and training. Kensington Oval has hosted marquee events such as the World Cup in 2007 and 2010, and the island continues to move in the right direction—with West Indies set to play Sri Lanka in a Test match in June and the Caribbean Premier League Final scheduled for September at Kensington Oval.