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 2018
In September Kent announced the signing of 24 year-old seam bowler Matt Milnes from Nottinghamshire on a three-year deal beginning at the start of the 2019 season. Milnes had played only eight first-class matches, making his Nottinghamshire debut in June, and previously having played for Durham MCCU. On 1 October Kent announced another signing for the 2019 season with Dutch international left-arm fast bowler Fred Klaassen joining on a two-year contract.