Cricket fans in London are being invited to dupe their bosses by ‘WFO’ – ‘Working From Oval’ – with desks and super-fast WiFi at matches.
The offer comes from Surrey County Cricket Club, who say they can offer ‘the ultimate home working experience’ this summer with ‘a view’ and ‘food and drink on hand’.
The Oval, located in Kennington in Lambeth, has a capacity of 27,500 and a number of seats have desks installed to make for a perfect working environment for office skivers – save for PA announcements and crowd noise interrupting Zoom calls.
Surrey posted: ‘The best home office in the country? We’ve upgraded our WiFi over the winter and there are terraces around the ground with pitch views and desk access. See you there and we won’t tell your boss.’
Steve Elworthy, chief executive at SCCC, told The Times: ‘We know that many people treat the Kia Oval as their second home and we’re encouraging them to use the ground to work from this summer and take in the outstanding action on the pitch at the same time.’
While a large portion fans reacted to the post on X with enthusiasm – with one user praising it for being ‘absolute class’ – the announcement hasn’t be met with unanimous approval.
‘In the old days, people used to try to keep their head down and say they were sick before watching the cricket so I suppose they can do this and have a clear conscience,’ former England test and one-day international cricketer Derek Pringle told The Times.
‘If I was a young person under 35 years old then I would want to go to the office and build a rapport with colleagues.’
