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.
Kent County Cricket Club in 2013
In 2013, Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division Two of the County Championship, Group A of the 40-over Yorkshire Bank 40 and the South Group of the Friends Life t20. Kent also hosted a first-class match at the St Lawrence Ground against Cardiff MCCU at the start of the season and a T20 match against the touring New Zealanders in June. It was the second season in charge for head coach Jimmy Adams. The club captain was England spinner James Tredwell, taking over from Rob Key who had been club captain since 2006. Brendan Nash registered as a Kolpak player, ending his West Indies international career, which allowed Kent to sign another overseas player. South African fast bowler Vernon Philander filled this role, although he was only with the club for a short spell in July. Another new addition to the squad was 22-year-old Calum Haggett from Somerset. Shortly before the end of the season, Kent signed two young fast bowlers: Charlie Hartley and Matt Hunn (Matt Hunn made his debut in the final county championship match of 2013). In addition, Mitchell Claydon joined on loan from Durham on 11 June initially for one month, but this was extended for a second month (he later signed on a permanent basis for 2014).