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 2010
In 2010, Kent County Cricket Club competed in Division One of the County Championship, Group C of the 40-over Clydesdale Bank 40 and the South Group of the Friends Provident t20. Kent also hosted three-day first-class matches at the St Lawrence Ground against Loughborough MCCU and the touring Pakistanis. It was the first season in charge for Director of Cricket Paul Farbrace. The club captain was former England batsman Rob Key who had been club captain since 2006. Kent's overseas players were South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini until late May, and Sri Lankan leg-spinner Malinga Bandara for the rest of the season.