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 out ground 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.
The ground, which is on a site,Planning report PDU/2831/01, Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham, Greater London Authority, 31 August 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2017. was first used for first-class cricket in 1954. It hosted two matches during the 1993 Women's Cricket World Cup and has been used by Kent as a regular outground since 2003. The ground was redeveloped in 2001–02 and in 2014 and facilities include a 13 pitch square, a 2,048-seater stand, an indoor cricket school and 3G football pitches.
History
The ground was established by Lloyds Bank as its main sports ground in the London area in 1918, having developed facilities at the ground in the early 1920s.Milton, Howard (1979). Kent cricket grounds, in The Cricket Statistician, no. 28, December 1979, pp.2–10.Lloyds secret sell-off shame, The Observer, 5 March 2000. Retrieved 26 November 2017. The original site served as the base for the bank's sports clubs, including Lloyds Bank Cricket Club and Lloyds Bank RFC. The bank sold the ground, which extended to at its greatest extent, to developers for almost £2 million in September 1999, and it is now operated by Leander Sports and Leisure group.Gough, PJ (2004) Corporations and commemoration – First World War remembrance, Lloyds TSB and the National Memorial Arboretum, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Winter 2004, pp. 435 – 455.
The ground was first used by the Kent First XI in 1954 when it hosted a County Championship match against Gloucestershire in a low-scoring rain-affected draw.Rutnagur DJ (2003) Kent homecoming party turns sour, The Daily Telegraph, 16 June 2003. Retrieved 26 November 2017.A Poor Start by Kent, The Times, 1954-06-10, p.11.Bowlers prosper on wet pitches, The Times, 1954-06-11, p.9. Kent had previously played home matches at Foxgrove Road in Beckenham between 1885 and 1905, and played one John Player League match at the nearby Midland Bank Sports Ground in 1970.First-Class Matches played on Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 February 2016.List A matches played on Midland Bank Sports Ground, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 February 2016. The county have a tradition of playing at outgrounds in what is now south-east London. Until 1965, Beckenham, along with other parts of south-east London, was part of the county of Kent, and it is treated by the club as being "Metropolitan Kent".Clifford J (2016) 'Welcome to the Kent County Ground, Beckenham' in Match Guide, 3 June 2016. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club. Grounds in nearby Blackheath, Catford, Crystal Palace and Dartford have all also been used by the club in the past for a total of more than 150 matches; the first match played by the county club after its foundation in 1842 was played at White Hart Field in Bromley.Grounds Records in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017, pp.210–211. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
The ground was used for two women's One Day Internationals during the 1993 Women's Cricket World CupWomen's World Cup, 1993 , The Cricketer. Retrieved 2 February 2016. but Kent did not use it again until the 2003 season when they again played Gloucestershire in a 2003 ECB National League match and Hampshire in a 2003 Twenty20 Cup match.Twenty20 matches played on the Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 November 2017. As of August 2022 it has hosted eight County Championship matches and 15 List A matches, but has mainly been used by Kent for Twenty20 cricket, most commonly matches against near neighbours Surrey.The Kent County Ground, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 February 2016. Notable matches include a one-day game against the touring West Indians in 2004 and the 2008 Friends Provident Trophy quarter-final, a game which had to be moved from the county's usual base at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury due to heavy rainfall.Dexter steers Kent into semi-finals, Cricinfo, 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
In 2017 a new Kent record for the highest partnership for any first-class wicket was set by Sean Dickson and Joe Denly who made 382 runs for the second wicket against Northants. Kent's total score of 701 for 7 declared was their second highest in any first-class match and their highest on a home ground. Dickson's score of 318 was the second highest score in Kent's history and only the third score of 300 or more to have been made by a Kent player for the county. It is the highest individual score made on a home ground by a Kent player.Kent v Northamptonshire: Sean Dickson scores post-war record 318 for hosts, BBC Sport, 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.Dickson's 318 tops day of Kent records, CricInfo, 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.Kent Spitfires v Gloucestershire, Match Guide, 18 July 2017. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.Hoad, Alex (2017). Record-breaking Kent batsman Sean Dickson wants another shot at history in the future, 'Kent Online', 5 July 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
The County Ground is also used by Kent's second XI and junior teams as well as being the main ground used by the Kent Women cricket team. Two matches in May 2017 saw Sri Lanka play Scotland in preparation for the 2017 Champions TrophyScotland to play Sri Lanka in May warm-up matches at Beckenham, BBC Sport, 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017. and West Indies A played India A in a four-day first-class match on the ground in July 2018.
Ground development
As a result of the sale of the ground in 1999, its main gates, which are a war memorial commemorating the members of Lloyds Bank who died in World War I and World War II, were removed and stored at the bank's Lombard Street headquarters in central London. They have since been moved to the sports ground at the bank's management training centre in Solihull.Lloyds Bank Sports Club, War memorials, Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 26 November 2017.Curme P (2005) Lloyds TSB Group – Remembrance and Commemoration, Bulletin, War Memorials Trust, No.26, Summer 2005, p.10. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
Following the sale of the ground, the facilities were redeveloped by Leander Sports and Leisure, working with Kent and Bromley London Borough Council. A new pavilion was constructed with the aim of turning the ground into a centre of excellence for sports in south-east London. The plans were backed by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London at the time.Livingstone backs Kent plan, BBC Sport, 7 February 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2017.Kent to develop Beckenham ground, CricInfo, 17 April 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2017. Initial plans were for Kent to return to the ground during 2001, although the first match played at the newly developed ground was in 2003.Mayor of London supports Centre of Excellence in Beckenham, Kent CCC media release, at CricInfo, 7 February 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2017. As part of the development 42 flats were built on the site which is designated as Metropolitan Open Land.Housing gets go ahead, News Shopper, 30 January 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2017. Kent's matches at Beckenham were partly supported by Bromley Council from 2006.Kent seal deal to stay at Beckenham, Kent Online, 8 February 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2107.
Further redevelopment of the ground took place in 2014, partly to provide the opportunity to increase revenue from non-cricket activities as the site was making a loss for the cricket club.Application No: 11/02140/OUT, Planning report, Bromley London Borough Council, 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2017.Hoad, Alex (2013). Kent Cricket receive planning permission for development of Worsley Bridge Road in Beckenham, Kent Online, 25 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2017. Kent had played no matches on it in 2013 and would have pulled out of the ground if the development had not gone ahead.Pearson G (2012) Kent buoyed by Beckenham ground redevelopment approval, Kent Online, 14 January 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2017. They returned in 2015 with six days of cricket scheduled, including a County Championship match and two NatWest t20 Blast fixtures.Kent Cricket, Beckenham, Bromley District Council. Retrieved 3 February 2016.Kent Cricket fixtures for 2015 season reveal a return to Beckenham for two NatWest T20 Blast games and an LV= County Championship Division 2 match, Kent Online, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.Kent Cricket will start 2015 season with two away trips , Canterbury Times, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016. The £30 million redevelopment has seen the club open a new indoor cricket centre and a function centre and the ground now features a permanent 2,048-seat spectator stand and all-weather sports facilities.The County Ground, Beckenham, Kent County Cricket Club, 6 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2016.Residents to oppose Beckenham’s Kent County Cricket’s plans, Bromley Times, 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2016.Kent offered loan for development, CricInfo, 13 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2016.Beckenham Redevelopment Project Advances at Pace, Kent County Cricket Club, 29 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.Kent Cricket Club, Beckenham, Delta Balustrades. Retrieved 2 February 2016.Outstanding outgrounds have much to offer , England and Wales Cricket Board, 22 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016. The ground adjoins the training facilities used by Crystal Palace Football Club who make some use of the all-weather facilities on the site. A new digital scoreboard has been installed at the ground and the outfield has been improved.Johnson N (2017) Kent County Cricket Club – The Llong journey!, Pitchcare Magazine 70, 30 January 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
The ground owners, Leander Sports and Leisure,Kent to continue at Beckenham, CricInfo, 9 February 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2016. built 48 houses on part of the site in order to fund the redevelopment which includes a number of year-round facilities, including an indoor cricket school, 3G football pitches and a physiotherapy clinic. Redevelopment was seen as essential in order to keep the ground as a financially viable cricketing venue, with the aim of developing a significant base for Kent in the north-west of the county, to develop younger cricketersBeckenham’s future as Kent outground hangs on development plans , Eastern Daily Press, 10 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2016.Beckenham development given green light, England and Wales Cricket Board, 25 November 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2016.Development plans agreed for Kent’s Beckenham home , Welwyn Hatfield Times, 16 August 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2016. and as a general sports development hub in metropolitan Kent. Kent took an initial 20-year lease on the ground and have the aim of further developing the ground in the future.
In February 2024 Kent's Chief Executive Simon Storey confirmed that the club were exploring the possibility of hosting a third-London based team in The Hundred at Beckenham, amid plans for an expansion from an 8-team to a 10-team competition. This came after Beckenham was originally intended to host Oval Invincibles Women before their matches were moved to The Oval.https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/thehundred/women_hundred_competition_cricket_ecb_restructure.html
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