This is a list of cricketers who played for the Gentlemen of Kent in first-class cricket matches. The side played 49 matches which have been granted retrospective first-class status. These include 48 played between 1830 and 1880 and one played under the same name in 1791. [1] The side was generally made up of amateur cricketers, often those associated with Kent County Cricket Club. It played most frequently against MCC and Gentlemen of England sides and an annual first-class fixture took place during the Canterbury Cricket Week between 1842 and 1866. [lower-alpha 1] [1] [3] [4] [5]
The side played other matches, including an annual one-day fixture against I Zingari during Canterbury Week. This list includes only those men who played for the side in matches which have been afforded first-class status. Note that many players represented other teams besides the Gentlemen of Kent. [6] [7]
Charles Joseph Harenc was an English lawyer and amateur cricketer in the mid-19th century. He played cricket for the Gentlemen of Kent, the Kent County Cricket Club teams of the 1840s and for MCC as well as a number of other sides and was regarded as the best Gentleman bowler of his era.
Lieutenant-general Edward Bligh, styled The Honourable from birth, was a British Army officer, a member of the Irish House of Commons, a noted amateur cricketer and a prominent early member of Marylebone Cricket Club. He was a member of the Darnley noble family.
Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.
William Western Knatchbull-Hugessen was an English amateur cricketer who played in three first-class cricket matches in 1858 and 1859.
Lieutenant colonel John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley DL, styled Lord Clifton from 1831 to 1835, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was a British peer.
Archibald Richard Harenc was an English soldier and amateur cricketer who played in 12 first-class cricket matches between 1840 and 1859.
Through the Napoleonic Wars, county cricket virtually died as cricket was impacted by losses of investment and manpower.