Private Banks Sports Ground is 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 striki ...

and multi-use sports ground in Catford Bridge in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

. The ground, which was in the historic county 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 ...

until 1889, was used as a

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 officiall ...

venue by

Kent County Cricket Club 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 ...

between 1875 and 1921. In 2012, the ground was sold to the Educational Foundation of nearby

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

St Dunstan's College St Dunstan's College is a coeducation, co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Catford, south-east London, England. It is a registered charity, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference a ...

and renamed the Jubilee Ground. The ground is southwest of Catford town centre. The A205 South Circular road runs along the northern edge of the ground.

Catford Bridge railway station Catford Bridge railway station is on the Mid-Kent Line, serving Hayes line trains from London to Hayes. It lies between Ladywell and Lower Sydenham stations, from and in Travelcard Zone 3. It is adjacent to (and on a lower level than) Catf ...

is adjacent to the ground and

Catford railway station Catford railway station is one of two stations serving the London suburb of Catford. Mainly used by commuters, it is in Travelcard Zone 3 and is on the Catford Loop Line, between and . It is served mainly by Thameslink trains between , and ...

is close by. The Mid-Kent railway line runs down the western side of the ground, with the

Catford Loop Line The Catford Loop Line is a railway line in southeast London. It carries a suburban stopping passenger service from central London to Sevenoaks, and is also a relief route for the Chatham Main Line carrying passenger trains from London Victor ...

along the southwestern edge.Explorer Map 161 – London South (Westminster, Greenwich, Croydon, Esher & Twickenham),

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

, 2015-09-16.

Cricketing history

The ground was established in 1872Milton H (1979) Kent cricket grounds, in ''The Cricket Statistician'', no. 28, December 1979, pp. 2–10. and the first recorded match on the ground was in 1874 between Private Banks Cricket Club and MCC.Other matches played on Private Banks Sports Ground, Catford
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-08-11. The ground's first

match followed in 1875 when

played

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in a county match.First-class matches played on Private Banks Sports Ground, Catford
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-08-10. The county played a further three matches on the ground in 1875, their only home county matches of the season,
''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', 1933. Retrieved 2016-08-11. and the possibility of making the ground the headquarters for the county was discussed, the

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 Canterbury not being established in this role at this point.Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) ''A half forgotten triumph. The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913'', p. 35. Cheltenham: SportsBooks Limited. When the ground was established former

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

cricketer George Hearne was appointed as groundsman. Three of his sons went on to play for Kent and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with one,

George Gibbons Hearne George Gibbons Hearne (7 July 1856 – 13 February 1932) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1875 and 1895. He also played in one Test match for England against South Africa ...

, making his home debut for the county during the 1875 season at the ground.Obituaries in 1904 - George Hearne
''

'', 1904. Retrieved 2016-08-11. Kent next used the ground for first-class cricket in 1892 when they played

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. The county used the ground during most years in the period up until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, including for matches against the touring West Indians in 1906, South Africans in 1907 and Indians in 1911. Following the war, Kent returned to the ground in 1920 and 1921, with the final first-class match on the ground being against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in June 1921.Grounds Records in ''Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017'', pp. 210–211. Canterbury:

. The ground held a single

Second XI Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually ever ...

match for the Kent Second XI in 1959, when they played the Worcestershire Second XI.Second XI Championship Matches played on Private Banks Sports Ground
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-08-10.

Modern use

The Jubilee Ground is designated as

Metropolitan Open Land "Metropolitan Open Land" or "MOL" is a term or designation used only within London. Land designated MOL is afforded the same level of protection as the Metropolitan Green Belt. Designation is intended to protect areas of landscape, recreation, natu ...

and forms an important open space within

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...

.Catford Town Centre Local Plan - Further Options
Lewisham Borough Council, February 2013. Retrieved 2016-08-11. Cricket is still played on the ground which has been developed into a multi-use sports ground. It is a venue for local

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

and rugby. In 2012 the ground was sold to

through its Educational Foundation. The site is used by the school and has both sports facilities and meeting rooms which can be hired.Venues - Jubilee Grounds
St Dunstan's Enterprises. Retrieved 2016-08-11.Corporate hire
St Dunstan's Enterprises. Retrieved 2016-08-11.

Records on the ground

A total of 38 first-class cricket matches were played on the ground, all of which featured Kent as the home side.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-01. *Highest total: 593 by

against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

*Lowest total: 35 by Kent against

, 1894 *Highest partnership: 224, 2nd wicket by E Humphreys and J Seymour, for Kent against Gloucestershire, 1909 *Highest individual score: 208, E Humphreys against Gloucestershire, 1909 *Best bowling in an innings: 8/26, W Rhodes for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, 1902 *Best bowling in a match: 13/83, WH Lockwood for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, 1894

References

External links

Private Banks Sports Ground
on

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{Kent CCC Cricket grounds in London Sport in the London Borough of Lewisham Football venues in London Sports venues completed in 1875

Cricketing history

Modern use

Records on the ground

See also

References

External links