Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic

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 st ...

structure of England and Wales. It represents 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 ...

. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Kent teams have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century, and the club has always held first-class status. The current Kent County Cricket Club was formed on 6 December 1870 following the merger of two representative teams. Kent have competed 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 b ...

since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club's limited overs team is called the Kent Spitfires after the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

. The county has won the County Championship seven times, including one shared victory. Four wins came in the period between 1906 and 1913 with the other three coming during the 1970s when Kent also dominated one-day cricket cup competitions. A total of 13

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twen ...

cup victories include eight between 1967 and 1978, with the last trophy won by the club coming in the

2022 Royal London One-Day Cup The 2022 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that formed part of the 2022 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side, having List A cricket status, with ...

. The club plays most of its home matches at the St Lawrence 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 ...

, which hosts Canterbury Cricket Week, the oldest cricket festival in England. It also plays some home matches at the County Cricket Ground, Beckenham and the Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells which hosts Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week. Kent also field a

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

. Kent Women won the Women's County Championship a record eight times, most recently in 2019, and the Women's T20 title three times, most recently in 2016. It has traditionally played matches at the Polo Farm in Canterbury, but since 2016 has moved to be based mainly at Beckenham.

History

Cricket is generally believed to have originated out of children's bat and ball games in the areas of the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the ea ...

and Sussex, and these counties and Surrey were the first centres of the game. Bowen RF (1965
Cricket in the 17th and 18th centuries
in ''

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 ...

''. (Available online at

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 ...

. Retrieved 2022-04-04.) There are records of the sport being played in Kent during the 17th century,Ellis & Pennell, p. 7. although a match in 1705, probably at

Town Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, a ...

, is the first that is definitely recorded as taking place within the county.Moore, p. 18.

Early county teams to 1842

The first inter-county match took place between a Kent side and one from Surrey on Dartford Brent in 1709, although three matches between Kent and Sussex in 1728 are more likely to have been the first properly representative county matches.Moore, p. 18.Robertson D (2009
Kent v Surrey – read more about the 300 year rivalry
Kent County Cricket Club, 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2018-03-14. Teams under the patronage of landowners such as Edwin Stead of

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock ...

and Lord John Sackville, who established the Sevenoaks Vine ground on his Knole Park estate, increasingly became more representative of Kent as a county,Moore, pp. 18–19. and in 1744 a Kent team organised by Sackville played England at the Artillery Ground, a match which was commemorated in a poem by James Love. Under the patronage of Sackville's son, John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, and Sir Horatio Mann, Kent continued to field strong teams throughout the last quarter of the 18th century, and were, along with Surrey, the main challengers to the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

teams organised primarily by the Hambledon Club.Collins S (2006
A brief history of Kent

, 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2016-02-14. The first inter-county match now considered to have first-class status was played between Kent and Surrey in 1773, and in 1787 a failed attempt to form a Kent County Club, with Dorset and Mann involved, was made at Coxheath. Inter-county matches declined towards the end of the 18th century, possibly as a result of a lack of investment during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

,19th Century Cricket

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

. Retrieved 2018-03-24. although Kent teams continued to play matches. The resumption of matches between county sides in 1825, when Kent met Sussex at Brighton's

Royal New Ground The Royal New Ground, also known as "Box's Ground", in Brighton, Sussex was a venue for first-class cricket matches from 1814 to 1847. Originally called "Brown's Ground" in the 18th century, it was located where Park Crescent, Brighton now stan ...

, saw matches organised by clubs in different parts of the county. A second attempt to form a County Club was made during the 1830s at Town Malling, backed by lawyers Thomas Selby and Silas Norton, alongside George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris.Birley, pp. 79–81. Selby and Norton recruited Fuller Pilch from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

, considered the best batsman in England, to play at Town Malling and maintain the

cricket ground 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 st ...

. Pilch played in Kent teams alongside players such as Alfred Mynn,

Nicholas Felix Nicholas Wanostrocht (5 October 1804 – 3 September 1876), known as Nicholas Felix, was an English amateur "gentleman" cricketer. He was one of the few players who – at his request – was routinely known by his pseudonym, Felix. When his fa ...

Ned Wenman Edward Gower "Ned" Wenman (18 August 1803 – 28 December 1879) was an English first-class cricketer whose career spanned the 1825 to 1854 seasons. A specialist wicket-keeper, he was a prominent member of the great Kent team of the 1840s which ...

and William Hillyer which dominated English cricket, winning 98 matches during the period, and the team is considered to have been the leading county side for six seasons out of the seven between 1837 and 1843. The expense of running county games meant that Town Malling proved too small to support a county club, and the club was wound up in 1841, Pilch moving to the Beverley club at

The first county clubs: 1842–1870

The Beverley Cricket Club was formed in 1835 at the Canterbury estate of brothers John and William de Chair Baker, initially playing in the St Stephen's district of the city before moving to the

Beverley Ground The Beverley Ground was a cricket ground in Canterbury in Kent. 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 ...

in 1839.Event locations - Beverley Meadow
,

Canterbury City Council 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 ...

. Retrieved 2017-11-30.Jones KH (1934
An early relic of Kent Cricket
in ''Archaeologia Cantiana'', vol. 48, pp. 240–243. Retrieved 2017-12-01. After the failure of the Town Malling club, the Bakers stepped in to organise Kent teams, with Pilch managing the ground. The Beverley club became the Kent Cricket Club on 6 August 1842, when it reconstituted itself during its annual cricket festival. The club was the first formal incarnation of Kent County Cricket Club, and the 1842 cricket festival is considered the first Canterbury Cricket Week.Kent County Cricket Club Timeline
Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2017-11-23.Robertson D (2009
Read about the origins of Canterbury Week
Kent County Cricket Club, 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2018-03-24. The new Kent club played its initial first-class match against an England side at White Hart Field in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

on 25–27 August 1842, and initially the success of the club continued, with Kent considered the leading county side in 1843, 1847 and 1849. The club moved to the St Lawrence Ground on the eastern side of Canterbury in 1847, with Pilch once again moving to manage the ground. This was later established as the county's formal headquarters, although Kent continued to play matches on a variety of grounds around the county until well into the 20th century, rarely using the St Lawrence Ground for more than two or three matches a year. As the team built around Pilch retired from cricket, the fortunes of the club declined, the county sometimes forced to field teams of up to 16 or to combine with other clubs in order to compete.Moseling & Quarrington, pp. 1–2. Financial difficulties followed and on 1 March 1859 a second county club was formed at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

to support the Canterbury-based club. The two clubs, the Canterbury club known as East Kent, the Maidstone club as West Kent, co-operated to an extent, although the relationship was later described as "anything but satisfactory". Marsham G (1907
A short history of Kent cricket
''

''. Retrieved 2018-03-06. The standard of cricket played by the county side, generally organised by the West Kent club, remained poor and the county found it difficult to attract either the best amateur players or professionals to play, many amateurs only willing to appear during Canterbury Week.Kelson, Mr George Mortimer
Obituaries in 1920, ''

'', 1921. Retrieved 2018-02-27. An 1870 meeting chaired by the 3rd Lord Harris at the Bull Inn at

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

saw the two clubs merge to form the present day Kent County Cricket Club.

A single county club: 1870–1914

Initially the amalgamation of the clubs failed to improve performances on the pitch. The best amateurs still rarely appeared and Kent lacked a core of talented professionals to provide the team with a solid foundation. The 4th Lord Harris was elected to the General Committee in 1870 and became captain and secretary in 1875. He set about reforming the club with an "energetic administration", although performances improved only slowly at first and when the

was formerly established in 1890 Kent were initially able to finish only in mid table.Moseling & Quarrington, p. 2. Albert Chevallier Tayler - Kent Vs Lancashire 1906

Albert Chevallier Tayler - Kent Vs Lancashire 1906

The establishment of the Tonbridge Nursery in 1897 as a player development centre for young professionals was one of the key developments that lay the foundations for the successes of the pre-war period. The Nursery, which was run by Captain

William McCanlis Captain William McCanlis (30 October 1840 – 19 November 1925) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1862 and 1877 and later became known for his role in coaching young cricketers at the cou ...

and set up and overseen by

Tom Pawley Tom Edward Pawley (21 January 1859 – 3 August 1923) was an English first-class cricketer active 1880–87 who played for Kent County Cricket Club. He was born in Farningham and died in Canterbury.Colin Blythe Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team during the early part of the 20th century. Blythe was a Wisden Cricketer ...

and Arthur Fielder forming the core of the Kent attack.Moseling & Quarrington, p. 11. Professional batsmen such as

Punter Humphreys Edward Humphreys (24 August 1881 – 6 November 1949), known as Punter Humphreys, was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1899 and 1920. He played nearly 400 first-class matches ...

and James Seymour and all-rounders such as Frank Woolley became an increasing part of Kent's success, coming together with a group of "gifted" amateurs to produce strong batting lineups.Moseling & Quarrington, p. 3. This Kent side was the first since the 1840s to enjoy a period of real success, winning the

four times in the years between 1906 and 1914. The first title, in 1906, came under the captaincy of Cloudesley Marsham and was won on the last day of the season. Sides captained by Ted Dillon won three further Championships in 1909,

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

and 1913 and the Kent XI was strong throughout the pre-war period.Green D (1981) When a Blythe spirit brought four titles, ''

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'' ...

'', 1981-05-19, p. 18. Blythe was the team's leading bowler throughout the period, taking over 100 wickets each season between 1902 and 1914, including 17 in one day against Northants in 1907.Colin Blythe
Obituary, ''

'', 1918. Retrieved 2018-04-06.

Consistency but no Championships: 1919–1939

Blythe was killed during the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

in 1917, although it is unlikely he would have returned to county cricket after the war was over. The Kent side, once the makeshift 1919 season had been played, continued to be consistently strong throughout the inter-war period, finishing in the top five of the County Championship table in all but one season between 1919 and 1934.Moore, Dudley (1974
Kent's triumphant revival
''

'', 1974. Retrieved 24 October 2018. Players such as Woolley,

Wally Hardinge Harold Thomas William Hardinge (25 February 1886 – 8 May 1965),

Les Ames Leslie Ethelbert George Ames (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was a wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, '' Wisden'' described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman ...

all played at the peak of their careers, whilst Blythe's bowling was replaced by Tich Freeman's. Freeman took 102 wickets for Kent in 1920 and then took at least 100 each season until 1936, taking 262 in 1933. He leads all Kent bowlers in wickets taken.Burrowes ''et. al.'', pp. 89–115. Kent scored 803 for 4 declared against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

at Brentwood in 1934, with

Bill Ashdown William Henry Ashdown (27 December 1898 – 15 September 1979) was an English professional cricketer. He is one of a very few men who played first-class cricket before the First World War and after the Second World War. Ashdown was born in Brom ...

scoring 332, Ames 202

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

and Woolley 172. The total took just seven hours, with 623 runs scored on the first day alone and remains, as of 2022, Kent's highest score in first-class cricket, Ashdown's 332 runs remaining the highest individual score made for Kent.Robertson D (2014
Essex v Kent at Brentwood in 1934
Kent County Cricket Club, 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2018-04-06.The 300 Club: Dickson and Ashdown (and Woolley and Cowdrey)
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust, 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2018-04-06. Arthur Fagg scored a unique two double centuries in the same match for Kent against Essex at

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

in 1938,A brief history of Castle Park

. Retrieved 2018-04-06. while Woolley scored over 1,000 runs for Kent in each season between 1920 and his retirement in 1938. In 1928 he made 2,894 runs for the county at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

of 59.06. He retired in 1938 after making 764 appearances for the county side, with 47,868 runs, 122 centuries and 773 catches for Kent―all county records.

Post-war rebuilding and the Second Golden Age: 1946–1978

Gerry Chalk Frederick Gerald Hudson Chalk , born Gerald Frederick Hudson Chalk and known as Gerry Chalk, (7 September 1910 – 17 February 1943) was an English amateur cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who played first-class cricket for Oxford Univer ...

had captained the side in 1939 when they had, once again, finished in the top five of the Championship, but he was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the post-war period saw Kent struggle to compete consistently. After two promising seasons under

Bryan Valentine Bryan Herbert Valentine (17 January 1908 – 2 February 1983) was an English cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1933 and 1939. He was born at Blackheath, London and died at Otford, Kent.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers ...

in 1946 and 1947, the county only finished in the top nine teams twice between 1948 and 1963. The rebuilding of the side continued under David Clark's captaincy―Clark would later become chairman of the club. Colin Cowdrey, the first man to play 100 Test matches, made his Kent debut in 1950 and was appointed captain in 1957, following Doug Wright who was the first professional to captain the side. Wright took over 2,000 wickets with his brisk leg breaks and googlies between 1932 and 1957 and became the only player to take seven

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

s – six of them taken for Kent.Doug Wright
Obituary, ''

'', 1999. Retrieved 2018-10-24. An improvement in performances began in the mid-1960s under the captaincy of Cowdrey and the management of former wicket-keeper

. A seventh placed finish in 1964 was followed by fifth-place in 1965 and fourth-place in 1966 before the county finished as runners-up in 1967, winning the Gillette Cup in the same season. Another second-place finish in 1968 followed before the county won their first Championship since 1913 in 1970. Ten trophies were won during the 1970s, including a second Championship title 1978 and a shared title in 1977. The Sunday League was won in 1972, 1973 and 1976, the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

in 1973, 1976 and 1978 and the Gillette Cup again in 1974 – six of the trophies between 1972 and 1976 under the captaincy of Mike Denness who had succeeded Cowdrey in 1972.Pennell M (2013
Gracious captain; Kent legend

, 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2016-02-28.

Recent history

After no trophies during the 1980s, Kent won the 1995 Axa Equity & Law League and the

2001 Norwich Union League The 2001 Norwich Union League season was a 45 over English county cricket competition; colloquially known as the Sunday League, it featured many mid-week floodlit matches. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. ...

. In August 2007, the side won the Twenty20 Cup for the first time, defeating Sussex in the semi-finals, with captain Rob Key scoring 68 not out.Berry S (2007
Kent take the spoils after McLaren's hat-trick
'' Daily Telegraph'', 2007-08-05. Retrieved 2016-11-17.Twenty20 Cup finals day – Twenty20 Cup semi-final, Edgbaston
BBC Sport, 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2016-11-17. In the final they defeated

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 ...

in a see-saw game where in the final over, chasing 148, they required 13 runs, winning with three balls to spare.

Matthew Walker Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

top scored for Kent in the final with 45 runs while Darren Stevens scored 30 not out from 21 balls, including hitting the winning runs. Earlier in the final, Ryan McLaren took a

.Twenty20 Cup finals day
BBC Sport, 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2016-11-17. In 2008, the county were relegated from to the Second Division of the County Championship for the first time. They won the Division in the 2009 season, but were relegated again at the end of the 2010 season and played in the division until 2018, with a best finish of second in 2016, failing to be promoted only due to a restructuring of the divisional system. In November 2016, Kent accepted an invitation from the West Indies Cricket Board to compete in the 2016–17 Regional Super50 domestic List A tournament in January and February 2017.Kent to play in West Indies Super50 as part of FGS Plant Tour
Kent County Cricket Club, 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.

, 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-17.Wilson A (2016
One-Day Cup takes centre stage
England and Wales Cricket Board, 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-11-27. This was the first time that any English county side had competed in an overseas domestic competition.'Matt Walker's Kent embark on a winter Caribbean odyssey', '' The Cricketer'', February 2017.
Available online
) The invitation was partly due to the influence of former West Indian captain

Jimmy Adams James Clive Adams OD (born 9 January 1968) is a former Jamaican cricketer, who represented the West Indies as player and captain during his career. He was a left-handed batsman, left-arm orthodox spin bowler and fielder, especially in th ...

who had, until September 2016, been Kent's Head Coach and was followed by an invitation to take part in the competition again in 2018.Kent, Hampshire invited for WI Regional Super50

, 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2018-01-30. Kent were promoted to Division 1 at the end of the 2018 season, having finished second in Division 2 and retained their place in the top division in 2019. In 2021 the team won their first trophy for 14 years, beating

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 , lor ...

in the T20 Blast final.

Grounds

Kent's main ground is the St Lawrence Ground in

. This ground has been used by the club since 1847 and Kent have played over 500 first-class matches at the ground. It is famous for having a tree, the

St Lawrence Lime The St Lawrence Lime Tree was a at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Kent, England. It was located within the boundary ropes of the cricket field which required special rules. In 2005, it was broken in two in high winds. History It is no ...

, on the playing field. The original tree, around which the ground was built, was broken in two by high winds in January 2005 and replaced by a smaller replacement lime tree later in the same year.St Lawrence Ground

. Retrieved 2016-01-09.End of innings for cricket tree
BBC News website, 2005-01-10. Retrieved 2016-02-09.Cricket club reveal new lime tree
BBC News website, 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2016-02-09. The ground hosts the annual Canterbury Cricket Week, the oldest cricket festival in the world.Kent Cricket 2015 fixtures revealed
, Kent County Cricket Club, 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
, ''Canterbury Times'', 2014-11-28. Retrieved 2016-02.09. This dates from 1842 and has been held at the ground since the club moved there.
, ECB, 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2016-02-09.London 2012: Kent chief executive not concerned at Olympic clash
BBC Sport website. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2016-02-09. Kent played their first official match at White Hart Field in

in August 1842 and since then have used 29 different grounds within the historic county. Some of these grounds, although still in the historic county of Kent are now also within the

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

area. Two outgrounds remain in regular use, the redeveloped County Cricket Ground, Beckenham and the Nevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells. The latter ground hosts the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week and has seen over 200 Kent home matches played on it.Nevill Ground

. Retrieved 2016-02-09.Kent coach Paul Farbrace hails Tunbridge Wells support
BBC Sport website, 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2016-02-09. Former venues include Mote Park in

, which was used until 2005 and has been the venue for over 200 Kent first-class matches,Kent end 140-year Maidstone deal
BBC Sport website, 2005-09-30. Retrieved 2016-02-09. as well as grounds in Gravesend,

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...