List of Kent County Cricket Club grounds explained

This is a list of grounds that Kent County Cricket Club have used since the formation of the first county club in August 1842. The club has used 29 grounds for first-class, List A and Twenty20 home matches. Prior to the formation of the first county club an informal county team had appeared in first-class matches from 1773 and cricket had been played in the county from at least the 17th century.[1] [2]

White Hart Field in Bromley played host to the club's first home fixture in first-class cricket against an All England cricket team in 1842. The county was based at the Beverley Ground in Canterbury until 1846 and Canterbury Cricket Week was first established at this ground.[3] [4] From 1847 the base for the county moved to the St Lawrence Ground, also in Canterbury, and this ground was later established as the county's formal headquarters.[5] It is now the main ground for the county and hosts the majority of home matches, although it was typically only used for county cricket during Canterbury week until well into the 20th century.[6] The ground is famous for having had a tree, the St Lawrence Lime, on the playing area for most of its history.[7] [8] [9]

Unusually for a first-class county, Kent have played over 100 home fixtures at seven grounds and continued to play the majority of its matches away from the St Lawrence Ground until well into the 20th century.[10] The only out-ground still in use as of 2024 is the County Cricket Ground, Beckenham.

The 29 grounds that Kent have used for home matches since 1842 are listed below along with The Oval in London, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, which was used for two home matches by Kent.

Grounds

Below is a list of grounds used by Kent County Cricket Club in first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Grounds are listed in order of their first use by the county. The count only includes matches where Kent were the home team. Many grounds have been used by other teams, including for international matches.

Name LocationFCLAT20First matchLast matchRefs
1 0 0  [11]
Canterbury7 0 0[12]
1 0 0 [13]
Higher Common Ground
280 025 August 1884 v Somerset[14]
2 0 015 July 1847 v Surrey[15]
St Lawrence Ground
Canterbury6073749619 July 2024 v Surrey[16] [17]
Bat and Ball Ground
Gravesend1420 0 26 May 1971 v Pakistanis[18]
School Field
2 0 024 July 1851 v All England Eleven[19]
Mote Park
218 5325 June 2005 v Derbyshire[20]
1 0 0 [21]
2 0 023 July 1863 v Nottinghamshire[22]
2 0 030 July 1863 v Sussex[23]
Crystal Palace Park
50 025 August 1870 v Sussex[24]
Margate1 0 0 [25]
Southborough1 0 0 [26]
Tonbridge106 0 07 June 1939 v Glamorgan[27]
Private Banks Sports Ground
38 0 029 June 1921 v Nottinghamshire[28]
Faversham1 0 0 [29]
Old County Ground
West Malling40 03 July 1890 v Sussex[30]
Foxgrove Road
Beckenham14 00[31]
The Rectory Field
84 3 03 June 1972 v Surrey[32]
Nevill Ground
Tunbridge Wells18927617 June 2019 v Notts[33]
Crabble Athletic Ground
Dover106 4 021 July 1976 v Derbyshire[34]
Garrison 1 Cricket Ground
Chatham30 014 May 1927 v Northamptonshire[35]
Cheriton Road
Folkestone8523 0 1 July 1995 v Cambridge University[36]
Garrison Ground 2
283 06 August 1972 v Leicestershire[37]
The Kent County Cricket Ground
Beckenham8172313 August 2023 v Middlesex[38]
Dartford33 2 08 August 1990 v Leicestershire[39]
Midland Bank Sports Ground
Beckenham0 1 0 [40]

The Oval

Kent have used The Oval, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, for "home" matches on two occasions. The quarter-final of the 1981 Benson & Hedges Cup against Warwickshire was scheduled to be played on the St Lawrence Ground but, following heavy rain, the ground was deemed unplayable. Play was impossible on the first two days allocated for the fixture and an inspection on the third day also ruled out play and the match was switched to use The Oval at short notice.[41] [42] [43]

The second Kent "home" match on the ground was a 2010 Twenty20 Cup fixture against Essex which Kent chose to play on the ground in an attempt to increase attendance and, as a result, income. The experiment was not repeated.[41] [44] [45]

Bibliography

Milton H (2020) Kent County Cricket Grounds. Woking: Pitch Publishing.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.espncricinfo.com/kent/content/story/261949.html A brief history of Kent
  2. https://www.icc-cricket.com/about/cricket/history-of-cricket/early-cricket Early Cricket (Pre 1799)
  3. Jones KH (1934) An early relic of Kent Cricket, in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol 48, pp.240–243. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  4. Homer J (2015) Ye Olde Beverlie, St Stephen's Green in Canterbury Pubs. Stroud: Amberley Publishing Limited. (Available online. Retrieved 2017-12-01).
  5. Sweetinburgh S (2015) Kent Cricket and a Tudor Mansion, Canterbury Christchurch University, 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  6. Hignell A (2002) Rain Stops Play: Cricketing Climates, pp. 67–112. London: Abingdon. .
  7. The Kent County Club and the St Lawrence Ground, The Times, 1896-03-14, p.13.
  8. Kent County Cricket Club, The Times, 1897-03-25, p.11.
  9. Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) A Half-Forgotten Triumph: The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913, p.35. Cheltenham: SportsBooks. .
  10. Hignell, op. cit., pp. 65–66.
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113052028/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/361.html White Hart Field, Bromley
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030641/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/378.html Beverley Ground, Canterbury
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20171202203147/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/313.html Hensted Park (sic), Benenden
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701090513/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/801.html Higher Common Ground, Tunbridge Wells
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113054611/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/289.html Preston Hall Ground, Aylesford
  16. Grounds Records, in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2018, pp.180–181. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
  17. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/379.html St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701093435/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/503.html Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194807/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/440.html School Field, Cranbrook
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701083246/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/615.html Mote Park, Maidstone
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20161114165507/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/389.html New Brompton, Chatham
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20171015203321/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/441.html Swifts Park, Cranbrook
  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113031738/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/722.html Sandgate Plain Ground, Sandgate
  24. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701092919/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/445.html Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace
  25. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113031046/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/621.html Clifton Villa Estate, Margate
  26. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113043725/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/747.html BM Close's Ground, Southborough
  27. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701101715/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/792.html Angel Ground, Tonbridge
  28. https://web.archive.org/web/20150907220656/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/7057.html St Dunston's College Ground, Catford
  29. https://web.archive.org/web/20170128063416/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/478.html Mount Field, Faversham
  30. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701095314/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/796.html Old County Ground, Town Malling
  31. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701083709/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/307.html Foxgrove Road, Beckenham
  32. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701080842/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/325.html The Rectory Field, Blackheath
  33. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/802.html The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells
  34. https://web.archive.org/web/20170701100456/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/455.html Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover
  35. https://web.archive.org/web/20171214184005/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/390.html Garrison 1 Cricket Ground, Chatham
  36. https://web.archive.org/web/20170630160139/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/483.html Cheriton Road Sports Ground, Folkestone
  37. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710012855/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/488.html Garrison Ground 2, Gillingham
  38. https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/309.html The Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham
  39. https://web.archive.org/web/20170924121313/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/449.html Hesketh Park, Dartford
  40. https://web.archive.org/web/20171113033052/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/308.html Midland Bank Sports Ground, Beckenham
  41. Milton (2020), pp.203–204.
  42. Ross A (1981) Surrey's generous offer, The Times, 1981-06-26, p. 13. (Available online at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2022-06-05.)
  43. Ross, A. (1981) Tavaré the backbone of Kent's victory, The Times, 1981-06-27, p. 15.(Available online at The Times Digitial Archive. Retrieved 2022-06-05.)
  44. http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/kent-to-stage-home-t20-cup-clash-a89895/ Kent to stage home T20 Cup clash at the Brit Oval
  45. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/jul/09/kent-essex-oval-friends-provident-t20 Kent play host at The Oval but home from home no help against Essex

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