Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Bonza bonanza!
KENT’S DELIGHT AT £100K WINDFALL FROM AUSTRALIA TOUR MATCH ‘We did our best to cater for everyone’s needs’
Kent Cricket chief executive Jamie Clifford has hailed Kent’s match against the Australians as a spectacular success on every level. Mr Clifford believes the county made the most of their time in the spotlight after a memorable four-days hosting captain Michael Clarke’s world champions in their Ashes tour opener at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. The crowd numbered 16,000 over the duration, to watch the first full tour fixture Australia had played against Kent since August 1997. And that ensured a very prof i t abl e return for the county.
Australia may have won the match by 255 runs, but the oc- casion ensured Kent were big winners when it came to making some welcome funds, in the region of £100,000.
But it’s not only about what his county banked as far as Mr Clifford is concerned. He said: “We’ll make a low six-figure sum and that’s certainly a welcome bonus to us, but it’s not all about the money.
“We had an fantastic opportunity to showcase our facilities, and our potential, for hosting an event such as this to the cricketing world and I believe we did so in spectacular fashion.
“We did our best to cater for everyone’s needs, whether they were a Kent member, a visitor or even an Australian player.
“They (the Australian players) were even buying grips for their bats in our shop, something they said they couldn’t do in the ‘massive’ stadiums they normally play in – they said ours was a ‘proper’ cricket ground and they loved being here.
“As for the public, well, the food was in plentiful supply at all outlets, as were refreshments – queuing was also very minimal and that helped ensure everything ran smoothly. “We wanted cricket-loving folk to enjoy the whole experience and I am sure they did.”
Despite the success, Mr Clifford is not about to sit back and rest on his laurels – he has another match he wants to make a big hit with the public. He said: “We host the Ashes women’s Test next month (August 11-14) and I want to try and establish a world record crowd for a women’s game. It slots in beautifully between the men’s fourth and fifth Tests so hopefully we’ll get plenty of support.”