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.
Kent County Cricket Club in 2018
Kent competed in the 2017–18 Regional Super50, a List A tournament that is part of the West Indian domestic season, after accepting an invitation from the West Indies Cricket Board. This was the second consecutive year that the county competed in the competition which ran from 30 January to 24 February. In the absence of club captain Sam Billings who was with the England cricket team in Australia and New Zealand, the side was captained by Joe Denly and, in Denly's absence at the end of the tour, Will Gidman. Head coach Matt Walker was also working with the England T20 team and assistant coach Allan Donald and Second XI coach Min Patel led the tour.