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 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 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 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 on which first-class cricket is played,having been in use since 1847,and is the venue for Canterbury Cricket Week,the oldest cricket festival in the world. It is one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that have had a tree,the St Lawrence Lime,within the boundary.
Joseph Liam Denly is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional leg break bowler who plays as a top-order batsman. Denly played age group cricket for Kent and began his professional career with the county before moving to Middlesex for three seasons between 2012 and 2014. He won the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year award in 2018 and was named the season's Most Valuable Player.
The County Ground,Beckenham is a cricket ground in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley. The ground is owned by Leander Sports and Leisure and is used as an outground by Kent County Cricket Club for First XI fixtures,as well as for other matches. As of 2019 the Kent Women cricket team played the majority of their matches at the ground.
Matthew Thomas Coles is an English former professional cricketer. He played as a bowling all-rounder who bowled right-arm fast-medium pace and batted left-handed. He most recently was contracted to Essex County Cricket Club and has represented the England Lions cricket team. Coles played for Kent for two spells either side of spending 18 months at Hampshire in 2014. In 2016 he joined Bangladesh Premier League side Dhaka Dynamites for part of their season.
Adam James Ball is an English cricketer who plays for Suffolk County Cricket Club. Ball is a batting allrounder who played top level cricket for Kent County Cricket Club from 2010 until 2017 and was captain of the England Under-19 cricket team.
Daniel James Bell-Drummond is an English professional cricketer,who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He has represented England at youth level and has played for the England Lions cricket team at senior level.
Samuel William Billings is an English professional cricketer. Billings is a right-handed batsman who fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born at Pembury in Kent and has played for Kent County Cricket Club sides since he was eight years old,making his senior debut for the First XI in 2011. In October 2017 he was appointed as the vice-captain of the team before being appointed as captain in January 2018,replacing Sam Northeast. He served as the club's captain until the end of the 2023 season when he resigned,although he retained the captaincy of the club's Twenty20 cricket side.
Ivan Alfred Astley Thomas is an English professional cricketer who most recently played for Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-arm medium-fast seam bowler who bats right-handed. He made his first-class cricket debut for Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities in March 2012 and has played in all forms of cricket for Kent.
Adam Paul Rouse is a Zimbabwean-born English former professional cricketer. Rouse played as a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper,although he was considered versatile enough to play solely as a specialist batsman. Rouse played for England at under-19 level and made his first-class debut in 2013 for Hampshire County Cricket Club. He played for Gloucestershire in 2014 before joining Kent County Cricket Club ahead of the 2016 season. He retired from professional cricket at the start of the 2020 season.
Imran Qayyum is an English former professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club. A slow left arm bowler,he made his first-class cricket debut in May 2016 against Northamptonshire in the 2016 County Championship and has gone on to play in limited overs competitions for the county. In May 2021,he was forced to retire from the game due to a shoulder injury.
In 2017,Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division Two of the County Championship,the Royal London One-Day Cup and the NatWest t20 Blast. In addition,before the start of the English cricket season,Kent competed in the 2016–17 Regional Super50,the List A competition of the West Indian domestic season. This was the first time that any English county had competed in an overseas domestic competition. The invitation to take part in the tournament was largely due to the influence of former West Indian captain Jimmy Adams who had been Kent's Head Coach until September 2016.
In 2011,Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division Two of the County Championship,Group A of the 40-over Clydesdale Bank 40 and the South Group of the Friends Life t20. Kent also hosted a Twenty20 match at the St Lawrence Ground against the touring Indians,and a three-day first-class MCC Universities match against Loughborough MCCU,also at the St Lawrence Ground. It was the second and final season in charge for Director of Cricket Paul Farbrace. The club captain was former England batsman Rob Key who had been club captain since 2006. Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz joined Kent as their overseas player in June,and another fast bowler,South African Charl Langeveldt,signed as Kent's second overseas player for the Friends Life t20 competition only.
Oliver George Robinson is a professional cricketer who plays for Durham County Cricket Club. He plays as either a wicket-keeper or as a specialist batsman and made his debut for Kent in 2017.
In 2018,Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division Two of the County Championship,the Royal London One-Day Cup and the 2018 t20 Blast. The county finished second in Division Two of the Championship and were promoted to Division One for the 2019 season. They reached the final of the One-Day Cup. losing to Hampshire at Lord's,and the quarter-final stage of the t20 Blast. In addition,before the start of the English cricket season,Kent competed in the 2017–18 Regional Super50,the List A competition of the West Indies domestic season,reaching the semi-final stage. This was the second time that Kent have competed in the competition,having played in the 2016–17 competition.
Matthew Edward Milnes is an English professional cricketer who currently plays for Yorkshire County Cricket Club,having moved from Kent at the end of the 2018 season. Milnes was born in Nottingham and grew up in the city and attended West Bridgford School in the city before going to Durham University. A seam bowler,he was part of the Nottinghamshire Academy programme before making his first-class cricket debut in April 2014 for Durham MCC University against Derbyshire. He received a Half-Palatinate for his cricketing activities at university.
In 2019 Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division One of the County Championship after gaining promotion in the 2018 season,the Royal London One-Day Cup and the 2019 t20 Blast.
Marcus Kevin O'Riordan is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club.
