Kent County Cricket Club
As the team built around Pilch retired from cricket the fortunes of the club declined, the county sometimes forced to field teams of up to 16 or to combine with other clubs in order to compete. Financial difficulties followed and on 1 March 1859 a second county club was formed in Maidstone to support the Canterbury-based club. The two clubs, the Canterbury club known as East Kent, the Maidstone club as West Kent, co-operated to an extent, although the relationship was later described as "anything but satisfactory". The standard of cricket played by the county side, generally organised by the West Kent club, remained poor and the county found it difficult to attract either the best amateur players or professionals to appear, many amateurs only willing to appear during Canterbury Cricket Week. Financial difficulties also caused problems producing competitive sides. An 1870 meeting chaired by the 3rd Lord Harris at the Bull Inn at Rochester saw the two clubs merge to form the present day Kent County Cricket Club.
Alan Dixon (cricketer)
Dixon made his first-class cricket debut for Kent in 1950 in a County Championship match against Essex at Clacton in August 1960. Dixon was aged 16 years and 248 days old on his debut. At the time he was the second youngest player to play for the county after Wally Hardinge and, as of 2016, is one of only five 16 year olds to have played for Kent. He played just one match for the First XI in 1950 and once in 1954 before becoming a more regular member of the side in the 1955 season. During this period he appeared regularly for the county Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship and was awarded his Second XI cap in 1951. He was awarded his county cap in 1960 and played until the 1970 season, making a total of 378 first-class appearances for Kent as an all-rounder. Dixon also appeared twice for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and once for an AER Gilligan XI as well as making 23 List A cricket for Kent during his career. Despite a relatively limited number of List A appearances he led the country in List A wickets taken in the 1967 season as Kent won the 1967 Gillette Cup.