The Beverley Ground was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

ground in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was in use in the mid-19th century, with recorded matches taking place between 1839 and 1846. It was the home ground of Beverley Cricket Club and was where the first Kent County Cricket Club was formed in August 1842 during

Canterbury Cricket Week Canterbury Cricket Week is the oldest cricket festival week in England and involves a series of consecutive Kent home matches, traditionally held in the first week in August. It was founded in 1842, although a similar festival week was first hel ...

which was held at the ground until 1846. The ground was on the Sturry Road in east Canterbury. The name may also refer to the club's previous ground at St Stephen's in north Canterbury. A total of 15

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

matches were held on the ground.

Establishment and cricket history

Some of the earliest references to cricket are found in Kent and teams from the county dominated the game between 1830 and 1850. The Beverley Cricket Club was formed in 1835 at the

estate of brothers John and William Baker. Birley D (1999) ''A Social History of Cricket'', pp.79–82. London: Aurum Press. . They initially played on the Beverley Meadow, a field behind the Baker's home which was named Beverley, in the St Stephen's district of north Canterbury,Event locations - Beverley Meadow
, Canterbury City Council. Retrieved 2017-11-30.Milton H (1979) Kent cricket grounds, in ''The Cricket Statistician'', no.28, December 1979, pp.2–10. land owned by the Bakers,Jones KH (1934
An early relic of Kent Cricket
in ''Archaeologia Cantiana'', vol 48, pp.240–243. Retrieved 2017-12-01. and it is thought possible that the ground may have been referred to as the Beverley Ground. The nearby ''Ye Olde Beverlie Inn'' served as their clubhouse. In 1839 the club held their first Cricket Week which drew 4,000 spectators.Homer J (2015) Ye Olde Beverlie, St Stephen's Green in ''Canterbury Pubs''. Stroud: Amberley Publishing Limited.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-12-01). In July 1839 the first recorded match was held at the Beverley Ground between Beverley Cricket Club and Chilston.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-01. The new ground was described as "a field near the Cavalry Barracks" Altham H, Swanton EW (1963) ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1'', p.78. London: Allen & Unwin. and was on the

Sturry Sturry is a village on the Great Stour river situated northeast of Canterbury in Kent. Its large civil parish incorporates several hamlets and, until April 2019, the former mining village of Hersden. Geography Sturry lies at the old Roman jun ...

Road in north-east Canterbury, although its precise location is not known. It held its first

match in August 1841 when an England XI unexpectedly defeated a Kent XI by 74 runs in "the crack game of the season".Carleton JW (1841) Kent against England, ''The Sporting Review'', pp.214–215.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-12-01). The Beverley club became the Kent Cricket Club on 6 August 1842, when it reconstituted itself during the annual cricket festival. The club was the first formal incarnation of the club which is known today as Kent County Cricket Club and the 1842 cricket festival is seen by Kent as being the first

.Kent County Cricket Club Timeline
Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2017-11-23.The World’s Most Historic Cricket Week
Kent County Cricket Club, 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2017-12-01.The history of Kent Cricket: Part 1 – Prehistory
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2017-12-01.Charles Taylor and Canterbury Cricket Week
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust, 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-12-13. The ground was described in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' during the match:

The ground was very tastefully laid out. The pavilion, in which a first-rate cold collation was spread, occupied the further part of the field, and on each side, in the form of a semicircle, were marquees, tents, benches, and accommodation of all kinds for the spectators. – ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 3 August 1842Cricket – Kent v. England, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', 1842-08-03, p.5.

A total of 15 first-class matches were held on the ground between 1841 and 1846. They all involved either Kent or

Gentlemen of Kent Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

amateur sides who played annually against England XIs and Gentlemen of England XIs.First-class matches played on Beverley Ground, Canterbury
Retrieved 2017-12-01.Grounds Records in ''Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017'', pp.210–211. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club. In 1847 the Canterbury Cricket Week moved across the city to the newly established

St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds ...

in the south-east of the city, and the Beverley Ground appears to have not been used after that date. The current Canterbury Cricket Club, who play at the Polo Farm to the east of the city, is the modern descendant of the Beverley Club.About us
Canterbury Cricket Club. Retrieved 2017-12-01.

Records on the ground

A total of 15 first-class cricket matches were held on the ground.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-01. *Highest total: 278 by Kent XI against England, 1842 *Lowest total: 31 by Kent XI against England, 1841 *Highest partnership: 154, 4th wicket by F Pilch and N Felix, for Kent XI against England, 1842 *Highest individual score: 98, F Pilch, for Kent XI against England, 1842 *Best bowling in an innings: 8/37, A Mynn for Gentlemen of Kent against Gentlemen of England, 1843 *Best bowling in a match: 15/73, A Mynn for Gentlemen of Kent against Gentlemen of England, 1843

References

External links

Beverley Ground
on Cricinfo {{Kent CCC Defunct cricket grounds in England Cricket grounds in Kent Sport in Canterbury Defunct sports venues in Kent Sports venues completed in 1841