Just six miles awa Kent’s raucous ho
Dan Whiting recounts Kent’s travels around the Garden of England and unearths some intriguing tales of the 29 grounds used by the county
Whether you are a Kentish Man or a Man of Kent, depending on which side of the Medway you were born, the county have played near to your birth place during their history. In fact those who play cricket in the Garden of England have used a staggering total of 29 differing outgrounds.With the St Lawrence Ground hosting mainly the Men of Kent, Beckenham on the edge of London is an extremely popular outground amongst the Kentish men.
Just six miles from the Oval, yet over 60 away from their base in Canterbury, Beckenham has a fascinating role in cricket history. The resting place of the great WG Grace, Beckenham nestles under the hill of Crystal Palace, with the tower of the BBC transmitter virtually ever present wherever you are in the suburb. Even the Crystal Palace Football Club are next door neighbours of the cricket ground, with their state of the art training facility on Copers Cope Road.
The entrance to the cricket ground is on Worsley Bridge Road with red, wrought iron gates depicting the Kent horse Invicta on them, welcoming those who arrive. A long drive to an imposing white pavilion is in front of you, whilst to the right is a new £30m complex housing indoor nets.
Owned by a private company, housing built on this former Lloyds Bank ground has helped fund the redevelopment. The old pavilion in one corner has also been converted into luxury flats. Steps from the new pavilion lead down to the pitch with an immaculate white fence acting as a boundary. On the other side a 2,000-seater stand has been erected in recent years and there is always a decent crowd here for the shorter format, especially when hosting Surrey.
Beckenham can get raucous, it can get lively but it has a fantastic atmosphere and the players enjoy it.
Kent first played here in 1954, before returning around the turn of this century to make it their home in the west of the county. This genteel London suburb has produced some wonderful cricketers over the years with Derek Underwood, Rob Key and Michael Carberry all being schooled in the area. Even now, the tradition continues with Daniel Bell-Drummond starting his career at Catford Wanderers CC down the road. The ground is the home of the Kent Women’s side with Charlotte Edwards, Tammy Beaumont and Lydia Greenway all plying their trade here.
It isn’t the only ground that Kent have used in Beckenham. Another bank ground, now HSBC’s, on Kings Hall Road was used, as was Foxgrove Road, home of Beckenham CC. Foxgrove Road is the prettiest of the three venues, sharing its premises with the famous tennis tournament once used by many a player as a warm-up for Wimbledon although HSBC is a beautifully manicured venue, occasionally interrupted by trains ferrying commuters between Beckenham and the City.
The other outground currently in use is the stunning Nevil Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Surrounded by beautiful rhododendrons, it was described by E.W. Swanton as: “England’s most delectable cricket ground.” In Swanton’s day, the steam train would run behind one end having crossed The Weald en route from Hastings to London. The county boundary between Kent and East Sussex actually ran through the middle of the ground.
The Nevil Ground is famous for its political and cricketing history. The pavilion was burnt down in 1913 by one of the followers of the Suffragette movement allegedly after some sexist comments from one of the committee members, whilst Kapil Dev scorched the neighbourhood with a blistering 175 not out here in the 1983 World Cup. Without
Kapil Dev’s knock here, it is argued that India wouldn’t have won the 1983 Prudential World Cup, often described as the inspiration behind the modern day Indian Premier League.
It is still used as a cricket week and one of the most popular venues on the circuit. The 6,000 capacity ground is home to Tunbridge Wells CC and is usually extremely popular with the batsmen of the county due to its fine wicket.
Mote Park in Maidstone was used up to as recently as 2005, although a green wicket causing an eight-point deduction in that year led to the county utilising other grounds despite having played over 200 first-class games here since 1859. A bowler friendly wicket wasn’t always the case though as Graham Cowdrey and Aravinda de Silva rattled up 368 here just ten years previously. It remains a Kent record for any wicket partnership.
Kent actually started life at the White Hart Field in Bromley in 1841. Fixtures such as Kent v England took place here as did North v South and the Gentlemen of Kent.
Towards the coast, Kent have taken the game to those over in the east. The chalk hills of Dover had the wonderfully named The Crabble, now hosting Dover Athletic FC in the Vanarama National League. Godfrey Evans worked here as a scoreboard operative just after the war, although Derbyshire were the last visitors to this ground in first-classcricket in 1976. Down the road, Cheriton Road in Folkestone was also used by Kent. With the South Downs in the distance,
Whether you are a Kentish Man or a Man of Kent, the county will have brought first-class cricket to near you at some point
it is also used now by the town’s football club.
Name a major conurbation in Kent or South East London and you can bet that the county have played first-class cricket there. Hesketh Park is the home of Dartford CC, one of the oldest cricket clubs in the world, having been formed in 1727. It was used up until 1990 whilst the Rectory Field at Blackheath was dropped in 1972 due to the lack of car parking available at the venue.
A lovely ground that has hosted international rugby, it sits close to the beautiful Greenwich Park.
One of the saddest tales is the famous Angel Ground in Tonbridge. Known as “The Nursery”, as it produced so many fine players for the county such as Frank Woolley, it was sold off acrimoniously in 1980 and is now a shopping centre. The Bat and Ball Ground in Gravesend was another that the county ventured to on their travels, although their game against the touring Pakistanis in 1971 was the last on this famous ground.
The Private Banks Ground in Catford, now part of St Dunstan’s College, also deserves a mention as it has also hosted over 30 Kent matches. The Beverley Ground in Canterbury, Benenden, Aylesford, Brompton, two grounds in Cranbrook, Sandgate, Crystal Palace, Margate, Southborough, Faversham, West Malling, Chatham and Gillingham have all been used by this wandering, peripatetic county.
Some fine cricketers have been schooled in this county – Woolley, Gower, Cowdrey, Knott being just a few. Their development of some of the finest wicketkeepers for the national side should be applauded. They are a county rich in history and 1970 saw one of the most remarkable stories. At the beginning of the season, Kent supporter and leader of the opposition, Edward Heath, gave a speech at the club dinner quoting that 1906 saw a change of government and Kent’s last County Championship title.
With Heath behind in the polls and the county bottom of the Championship until the end of June, no one gave it a thought but suddenly a change in fortunes for both parties saw the MP for Old Bexley enter 10 Downing Street, whilst Colin Cowdrey lifted the title in the last game following an amazing run.
Whether you are a Kentish Man or a Man of Kent, the county will have brought the first-class game to near you at some point. They have one of the most passionate followings in the land in the Garden of England as cricket is as synonymous with the county as the Battle of Britain or Canterbury Cathedral.
They have come a long way since the Married Men played the Single Men at White Hart Field in Bromley.