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Kent County Cricket Club (also known as the Kent Spitfires in limited overs cricket) is an English county cricket team, which represents the ceremonial county of Kent. The club plays the majority of their home fixtures at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, but play several matches each year at the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells and the County Ground in Beckenham.

History

 * For a statistical breakdown by season, see Kent County Cricket Club seasons

Early days
The first county club came into existence in 1842, when the Beverley Cricket Club, based in Canterbury, was reconstituted and became the Beverley Kent Cricket Club. A second county club, this time based in Maidstone, was formed in 1859 to support the Canterbury-based club, which was suffering financial difficulties. The two clubs amalgamated into the present club on 6 December 1870. However, the amalgamation did not solve the financial difficulties originally held by the Beverley Club, and so the quality of cricket declined during the first few years of the club's existence, with many of the players previously employed by the club preferring to play club cricket.

The emergence of George Harris, 4th Baron Harris, however, brought greater fortunes to the club. Becoming captain in 1875, Harris managed to persuade many amateur players to play for the club, while also helping to secure the club's finances. Batsman Frank Penn, fast bowler Stanley Christopherson and wicket-keeper batsman Edward Tylecote were amongst the amateurs persuaded by Harris to play for the county.

The club was one of eight county sides to make up the inaugural official County Championship in 1890, with Kent finishing joint third with Yorkshire. Batsman Jack Mason, all-rounder Alec Hearne and bowler Frederick Martin became key players for the county during the first decade of the Championship. However, Kent found themselves unable to challenge for the title in this time, lacking high-quality professionals, while the best amateurs were often unavailable.

Kent's first period of success came in the decade leading up to the First World War, winning the County Championship title on four occasions under the captaincy of C. H. B. Marsham in 1906 and Ted Dillon in 1909, 1910 and 1913. Significant to the club's success over this period was the foundation of the Tonbridge Nursery, where many of the county's players were trained. Located at the Angel Ground, the nursery developed a number of good professionals, including Colin Blythe, James Seymour and Arthur Fielder. Blythe became the spearhead of Kent's bowling attack, finishing as the club's leading wicket-taker with his slow left-arm bowling in each of the seven seasons prior to the war, and the leading wicket-taker in the country in four of those. He would not return to cricket following the war—Blythe died in 1917, along with 11 others commemorated on the Blythe Memorial at the St Lawrence Ground.

The inter-war years
Kent found themselves consistent challengers for the Championship title between the two world wars, but could only achieve runners-up spots in 1919 and 1928. Players such as Frank Woolley, Wally Hardinge, Percy Chapman, Les Ames and "Tich" Freeman, who all gained international honours with the England national team, all played a key part in the county's success during this period. Freeman, aided by spin-friendly wickets at the St Lawrence Ground, became the only bowler to take 300 wickets in an English season, claiming 304 victims in 1928. Freeman was Kent's leading wicket-taker in 16 consecutive seasons, and holds the record for most wickets taken in the County Championship.

21st century
The club won their first tournament in six years after winning the Norwich Union League in 2001, beating Warwickshire on the last day to overtake Leicestershire, who lost their final game. In the Championship, the county achieved third-placed finishes in 2001 and 2002, helped by the run-scoring of David Fulton and Ed Smith, before finishing as runners-up to Warwickshire in 2004. The same year the side was relegated from the totesport League, having won just five of their sixteen games that season.

Kent would go on to find success in the Twenty20 Cup, reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament every year between 2006 and 2009, reaching the final twice. Underdogs during the 2007 Finals Day, Kent defeated the Sussex Sharks in the semi-final and the Gloucestershire Gladiators in the final to claim the trophy for the first time, with Ryan McLaren claiming a hat-trick in the final. The club reached the final again the following season, but lost to Middlesex Crusaders by three runs.

The 2008 season also saw Kent reach the final of the Friends Provident Trophy, where they lost to the Essex Eagles, and relegation to the second division of the County Championship, following defeat by an innings and 71 runs to Durham in the final round of matches.

Grounds


Kent have played first-class cricket at a total of 16 different grounds since 1870. The most widely used of these is the St Lawrence Ground, which has been in use since 1847 and has seen over 500 first-class matches played on it. With a capacity of 15,000, the ground hosted its first One Day International during the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and also acted as England's pre-tournament base. In 2007, a substantial redevelopment of the ground was announced, including the sale of various parts of the site for housing, a hotel and a fitness centre, but work was postponed after the building firm hired shed 1,100 jobs.

The club also plays several matches every season on outgrounds, with the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells and the County Ground in Beckenham staging fixtures during the 2009 season.

Current squad
, the Kent playing squad consists of the following players, with those capped at international level listed in bold.

International players
In total, 55 players have represented the England cricket team in Test cricket while registered as a Kent player, making 902 appearances between them (those listed in italics are still playing in county cricket):


 * Charlie Absolom (1)
 * Les Ames (47)
 * Mark Benson (1)
 * Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley (4)
 * Colin Blythe (19)
 * Bill Bradley (2)
 * Alan Brown (2)
 * Douglas Carr (1)
 * Percy Chapman (26)
 * Stanley Christopherson (1)
 * Chris Cowdrey (6)


 * Colin Cowdrey (114)
 * Mike Denness (28)
 * Graham Dilley (26)
 * Mark Ealham (8)
 * Richard Ellison (11)
 * John Evans (1)
 * Godfrey Evans (91)
 * Arthur Fagg (5)
 * Arthur Fielder (6)
 * "Tich" Freeman (12)
 * Wally Hardinge (1)


 * George Harris, 4th Baron Harris (4)
 * Dean Headley (15)
 * Alec Hearne (1)
 * Frank Hearne (2)
 * George Gibbons Hearne (1)
 * Kenneth Hutchings (7)
 * Alan Igglesden (3)
 * Geraint Jones (34)
 * Robert Key (15)
 * Alan Knott (95)
 * Geoffrey Legge (5)


 * "Hopper" Levett (1)
 * Brian Luckhurst (21)
 * Martin McCague (3)
 * Francis MacKinnon (1)
 * Charles Marriott (1)
 * Frederick Martin (2)
 * Jack Martin (1)
 * Jack Mason (5)
 * Min Patel (2)
 * Frank Penn (1)
 * Peter Richardson (9)


 * Fred Ridgway (5)
 * Martin Saggers (3)
 * Ed Smith (3)
 * Chris Tavaré (30)
 * Edward Tylecote (6)
 * Derek Underwood (86)
 * Bryan Valentine (7)
 * George Wood (3)
 * Frank Woolley (64)
 * Bob Woolmer (19)
 * Doug Wright (34)

In addition, 19 players have represented England in One Day Internationals while registered as a Kent player, making 280 appearances between them:


 * Mark Benson (1)
 * Chris Cowdrey (3)
 * Colin Cowdrey (1)
 * Joe Denly (9)


 * Mike Denness (12)
 * Graham Dilley (30)
 * Paul Downton (1)
 * Mark Ealham (64)


 * Richard Ellison (14)
 * Matthew Fleming (11)
 * Dean Headley (13)
 * Alan Igglesden (4)


 * Geraint Jones (49)
 * Robert Key (5)
 * Alan Knott (20)
 * Brian Luckhurst (3)


 * Chris Tavaré (29)
 * Derek Underwood (26)
 * Bob Woolmer (6)

Club captains


, a total of 31 men have been appointed as official captain of Kent County Cricket Club, not including stand-ins due to injury or other indisposition.

Honours

 * County Championship
 * Winners (6): 1906, 1909, 1910, 1913, 1970 & 1978
 * Joint winners (1): 1977 (with Middlesex)
 * Runners-up (11): 1908, 1911, 1919, 1928, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2004


 * County Championship Second Division
 * Winners (1): 2009


 * Friends Provident Trophy
 * Winners (2): 1967 & 1974
 * Runners-up: (4): 1971, 1983, 1984 & 2008


 * National League
 * Winners (5): 1972, 1973, 1976, 1995 & 2001
 * Runners-up (4): 1970, 1979, 1993 & 1997


 * Twenty20 Cup
 * Winners (1): 2007
 * Runners-up (1): 2008


 * Benson and Hedges Cup
 * Winners (3): 1973, 1976 & 1978
 * Runners-up (5): 1977, 1986, 1992, 1995 & 1997

Statistics and records


Frank Woolley holds the record for most runs scored in first-class cricket for Kent, having scored 47,868 runs between 1906 and 1938. The equivalent record in List A cricket is held by Mark Benson, who scored 7,814 runs between 1980 and 1995, while the Twenty20 record is currently held by Robert Key, who has scored 1,091 runs since 2004. The club's leading wicket-taker in first-class cricket is "Tich" Freeman, who took 3,340 wickets with his leg breaks between 1914 and 1936. Slow left-armer Derek Underwood holds the record in List A matches, taking 530 wickets between 1963 and 1987, while James Tredwell holds the Twenty20 record with 57 victims since 2003.

Woolley also holds the record for most appearances in first-class matches for the county, ending his career in 1938 after his 764th game. In total, four other players have made over 500 appearances in first-class matches: Wally Hardinge, James Seymour, Derek Underwood and Tich Freeman. Underwood holds the record for most appearances in List A matches with 376, with only Chris Cowdrey, Steve Marsh, Matthew Fleming and Graham Johnson joining him in making over 300 appearances in the format. James Tredwell has made 62 appearances for the county, ten more than Darren Stevens and Martin van Jaarsveld, the only other players to have made more than 50 appearances in the format.

As a team, Kent have posted a score of over 700 on only one occasion in first-class cricket: in 1934, they scored 803–4 declared against Essex, a match in which Bill Ashdown scored 332 and Les Ames an unbeaten 202. The side's highest total in List A matches is 384–6, against Berkshire during the 1994 NatWest Trophy, while in Twenty20 matches the record is 204–5 against Essex in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup.