Kent County Cricket Club
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. The club was first founded in 1842 but teams representing the county have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century and the club has always held first-class status. 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.
Private Banks Sports Ground
The ground was established in 1872 and the first recorded match on the ground was in 1874 between Private Banks Cricket Club and MCC. The ground's first first-class cricket match followed in 1875 when Kent County Cricket Club played Sussex in a county match. The county played a further three matches on the ground in 1875, their only home county matches of the season, and the possibility of making the ground the headquarters for the county was discussed, the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury not being established in this role at this point. When the ground was established former Middlesex cricketer George Hearne was appointed as groundsman. Three of his sons went on to play for Kent and England, with one, George Gibbons Hearne, making his home debut for the county during the 1875 season at the ground.