| Ground Name: | Hawker Centre |
| Country: | England |
| Location: | Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey |
| Establishment: | 1944 (first recorded match) |
| Year6: | 1953 |
| Club6: | Combined Services |
| Year5: | 1950–1953 |
| Club5: | England XI |
| Year4: | 1948 |
| Club4: | East |
| Year3: | 1947 |
| Club3: | Surrey and Kent |
| Year2: | 1947–1952 |
| Club2: | South |
| Year1: | 1946 |
| Club1: | Surrey |
| Date: | 29 August |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/558.html Ground profile |
The Hawker Centre is a sports ground in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. Originally the Hawker's Sports Ground, it was built and owned by the Hawker Aircraft company who had factories in Kingston-upon-Thames. The ground was known prior to 1948 as the Leyland Motors Ground, due to Hawker leasing their factory to Leyland Motors, a lease which expired in 1948. The aircraft factory was demolished in 1990 which alongside storage units were converted into a residential area keeping the sports ground. Since 2001 the ground has been maintained by the YMCA St Paul's Group under a lease by the Borough.[1]
The first recorded match on the ground was in 1944, when Leyland Athletic played London Counties.[2] The ground hosted its first first-class match in 1946, when Surrey played Hampshire. These first matches were organised to help raise money to repair the damage done to The Oval in the Second World War. A venue for first-class cricket from 1946 to 1953, it hosted first-class cricket for no less than seven teams, with the final first-class match at the ground in 1953 seeing an England XI play a Commonwealth XI.[3]