Kent Cricket: Canterbury Cricket Week, Spitfires & County History

Kent County Cricket Club, known as the Spitfires, is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England, founded in 1870. Based at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Kent have won seven County Championship titles and are famed for the beloved Canterbury Cricket Week festival.

Canterbury Cricket Week

Canterbury Cricket Week, held every August since 1842, is the longest-running cricket festival in the world. The St Lawrence Ground during this week features a famous lime tree that used to stand inside the boundary — the only tree ever to be inside the field of play at an English first-class ground.

County Championship History

Kent won seven Championship titles, with their golden era in the 1970s under Mike Denness. They won the title in 1906, 1909, 1910, 1913, 1970, 1977, and 1978. A T20 Blast title in 2021 added to Kent's recent silverware.

Legendary Kent Players

• Colin Cowdrey — 7,624 Test runs for England, first player to appear in 100 Tests
• Derek Underwood — England's left-arm slow-medium maestro, 297 Test wickets
• Alan Knott — regarded as one of England's greatest wicketkeepers
• Frank Woolley — Kent's greatest ever batter, 58,959 first-class runs