This is a list of grounds that Kent County Cricket Club have used since the formation of the first county club in August 1842. The club has used 29 grounds for first-class, List A and Twenty20 home matches. Prior to the formation of the first county club an informal county team had appeared in first-class matches from 1773 and cricket had been played in the county from at least the 17th century.A brief history of Kent, CricInfo. Retrieved 14 February 2016.Early Cricket (Pre 1799), International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
White Hart Field in Bromley played host to the club's first home fixture in first-class cricket against an All England cricket team in 1842. The county was based at the Beverley Ground in Canterbury until 1846, and Canterbury Cricket Week was first established at this ground.Jones KH (1934) An early relic of Kent Cricket, in Archaeologia Cantiana, vol 48, pp.240–243. Retrieved 1 December 2017.Homer J (2015) Ye Olde Beverlie, St Stephen's Green in Canterbury Pubs. Stroud: Amberley Publishing Limited. (Available online. Retrieved 1 December 2017). From 1847 the base for the county moved to the St Lawrence Ground, also in Canterbury, and this ground was later established as the county's formal headquarters.Sweetinburgh S (2015) Kent Cricket and a Tudor Mansion, Canterbury Christchurch University, 6 August 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2018. It is now the main ground for the county and hosts the majority of home matches, although it was typically only used for county cricket during Canterbury week until well into the 20th century.Hignell A (2002) Rain Stops Play: Cricketing Climates, pp. 67–112. London: Abingdon. . The ground is famous for having a tree, the St Lawrence Lime, on the playing area for most of its history.The Kent County Club and the St Lawrence Ground, The Times, 1896-03-14, p.13.Kent County Cricket Club, The Times, 1897-03-25, p.11.Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) A Half-Forgotten Triumph: The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913, p.35. Cheltenham: SportsBooks. .
Unusually for a first-class county, Kent have played over 100 home fixtures at seven grounds and continued to play the majority of its matches away from the St Lawrence Ground until well into the 20th century.Hignell, op. cit., pp. 65–66. The only out-ground still in use as of 2024 is the County Cricket Ground, Beckenham.
The 29 grounds that Kent have used for home matches since 1842 are listed below along with The Oval in London, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, which was used for two home matches by Kent.
Grounds Below is a list of grounds used by Kent County Cricket Club in first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Grounds are listed in order of their first use by the county. The count only includes matches where Kent were the home team. Many grounds have been used by other teams, including for international matches.
Name Location FC LA T20First matchLast matchRefs White Hart Field Bromley 1 0 0 25 August 1842 v England White Hart Field, Bromley, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Beverley Ground Canterbury 7 0 0 13 July 1843 v Sussex 3 August 1846 v England Beverley Ground, Canterbury, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Hemsted Park Benenden 1 0 0 17 August 1843 v England Hensted Park (sic), Benenden, CricketArchive. Archived on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Higher Common Ground Tunbridge Wells 28 0 0 31 July 1845 v Sussex 25 August 1884 v Somerset Higher Common Ground, Tunbridge Wells, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Preston Hall Ground Aylesford 2 0 0 23 July 1846 v Surrey 15 July 1847 v Surrey Preston Hall Ground, Aylesford, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. St Lawrence Ground Canterbury 616 378 103 2 August 1847 v England 24 September 2025 v Derbyshire Grounds Records, in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2018, pp.180–181. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Bat and Ball Ground Gravesend 142 0 0 21 June 1849 v All England Eleven 26 May 1971 v Pakistanis Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. School Field Cranbrook 2 0 0 15 July 1850 v All England Eleven 24 July 1851 v All England Eleven School Field, Cranbrook, CricketArchive. Archived on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Mote Park Maidstone 218 53 2 23 June 1859 v MCC 5 June 2005 v Derbyshire Mote Park, Maidstone, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. New Brompton Cricket Ground Chatham 1 0 0 12 June 1862 v Cambridgeshire New Brompton, Chatham, CricketArchive. Archived on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Swifts Park Cranbrook 2 0 0 24 July 1862 v Yorkshire 23 July 1863 v Nottinghamshire Swifts Park, Cranbrook, CricketArchive. Archived on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Sandgate Plain Folkestone 2 0 0 31 July 1862 v Sussex 30 July 1863 v Sussex Sandgate Plain Ground, Sandgate, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace 5 0 0 21 July 1864 v Nottinghamshire 25 August 1870 v Sussex Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. New Cricket Ground Margate 1 0 0 28 July 1864 v Sussex Clifton Villa Estate, Margate, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. B. M. Close's Ground Southborough 1 0 0 8 July 1867 v Hampshire BM Close's Ground, Southborough, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Angel Ground Tonbridge 106 0 0 22 July 1869 v Nottinghamshire 7 June 1939 v Glamorgan Angel Ground, Tonbridge, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Private Banks Sports Ground Catford 38 0 0 31 May 1875 v Sussex 29 June 1921 v Nottinghamshire St Dunston's College Ground, Catford, CricketArchive. Archived on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Mount Field Faversham 1 0 0 17 August 1876 v Hampshire Mount Field, Faversham, CricketArchive. Archived on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017. Old County Ground West Malling 4 0 0 3 June 1878 v Nottinghamshire 3 July 1890 v Sussex Old County Ground, Town Malling, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Foxgrove Road Beckenham 14 0 0 22 July 1886 v Surrey 3 August 1905 v Surrey Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. The Rectory Field Blackheath 84 3 0 26 May 1887 v Gloucestershire 3 June 1972 v Surrey The Rectory Field, Blackheath, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Nevill Ground Tunbridge Wells 189 27 6 15 July 1901 v Lancashire 17 June 2019 v Notts The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells, CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Crabble Athletic Ground Dover 106 4 0 11 July 1907 v Gloucestershire 21 July 1976 v Derbyshire Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, CricketArchive. Archived on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018. Garrison 1 Cricket Ground Chatham 3 0 0 9 June 1926 v Derbyshire 14 May 1927 v Northamptonshire Garrison 1 Cricket Ground, Chatham, CricketArchive. Archived on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Cheriton Road Folkestone 85 23 0 8 September 1926 v MCC 1 July 1995 v Cambridge University Cheriton Road Sports Ground, Folkestone, CricketArchive. Archived on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Garrison Ground 2 Gillingham 28 3 0 5 May 1937 v Worcestershire 6 August 1972 v Leicestershire Garrison Ground 2, Gillingham, CricketArchive. Archived on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. The Kent County Cricket Ground Beckenham 8 21 23 9 June 1954 v Gloucestershire 4 August 2024 v Middlesex The Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Hesketh Park Dartford 33 2 0 16 May 1956 v Essex 8 August 1990 v Leicestershire Hesketh Park, Dartford, CricketArchive. Archived on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Midland Bank Sports Ground Beckenham 0 1 0 10 May 1970 v Lancashire Midland Bank Sports Ground, Beckenham, CricketArchive. Archived on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
The Oval Kent have used The Oval, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, for "home" matches on two occasions. The quarter-final of the 1981 Benson & Hedges Cup against Warwickshire was scheduled to be played on the St Lawrence Ground but, following heavy rain, the ground was deemed unplayable. Play was impossible on the first two days allocated for the fixture and an inspection on the third day also ruled out play and the match was switched to use The Oval at short notice.Milton (2020), pp.203–204.Ross A (1981) Surrey's generous offer, The Times, 1981-06-26, p. 13. (Available online at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 5 June 2022.)Ross, A. (1981) Tavaré the backbone of Kent's victory, The Times, 1981-06-27, p. 15.(Available online at The Times Digitial Archive. Retrieved 5 June 2022.)
The second Kent "home" match on the ground was a 2010 Twenty20 Cup fixture against Essex which Kent chose to play on the ground in an attempt to increase attendance and, as a result, income. The experiment was not repeated.Kent to stage home T20 Cup clash at the Brit Oval, Kent Online, 9 December 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2016.Kent play host at The Oval but home from home no help against Essex, The Guardian, 9 July 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
Notes
References
Bibliography Milton, Howard (2020). Kent County Cricket Grounds. Woking: Pitch Publishing.