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.
Old County Ground
It is a fine old ground in delightful surroundings and is blessed with excellent natural turf such as is rarely to be found on cricket grounds
– "The Times", 13 August 1926
The ground was bought by an anonymous benefactor at auction in August 1926 and later purchased by Kent County Council in 1929. It is still in use by Town Malling Cricket Club, who negotiated a 35-year lease with the council in 1987, with the option of purchasing the ground should the council wish to sell it. A new pavilion was opened by Kent cricketer Richard Ellison in 1992 and the lease was extended for another 100 years in 2016 after the ground had been purchased by West Malling Parish Council in 1994. Other than its continued use by Town Malling Cricket Club, it is also used regularly as the home ground of Town Malling United football club.