Kent County Cricket Club in 1906
After dominating county cricket in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, the players who made up Kent's great side of the 1840s had retired and by the 1850s the county had been reduced to often having to amalgamate with other sides to produce a challenging team. The formation of a County Club in Maidstone in 1859 and the amalgamation of this with the original Kent Cricket Club in 1870 to create the modern Kent County Cricket Club, provided the basis for re-emergence, although the club suffered from financial instability and Lord Harris's view was that Kent could not hope to compete at the level it once had throughout the 1870s and 1880s. When the County Championship was formerly established in 1890 Kent were initially able to finish only in mid table.
Gravesend Cricket Club
Gravesend Cricket Club is a cricket club which currently plays in Division 2 of the Kent Cricket League. The club was formed in 1880 and plays at the Bat and Ball Ground which has been around for over 150 years (since 1848). First Class Cricket was played at "The Bat" (as it is affectionately known) by Kent County Cricket Club and its Second XI. The highest ever score on the ground came from W.G.Grace with 257 for Gloucestershire in 1895, and the most wickets in a match coming from Tich Freeman for Kent in 1931. The club currently has four running league teams, as well as a 5th XI which play friendly matches. Also, the club operates an exciting youth section with teams ranging from U11 to U17 (with the exceptions of U14 and 16). In Autumn 2011, the club was awarded the ECB "Clubmark" status which acknowledges the colts section of the club.