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Recently, while we were sorting through some of the artworks that are stored in the Frank Woolley Stand, we came across a print by a local artist, Terence Macklin, which nobody seemed to know anything about.

It is clearly an updated version of the famous ‘Kent v Lancashire 1906’ painting, which the club owned until 2006, and a copy of which now hangs in the Chiesman Pavilion. In our records it is listed thus: 

KENT v LANCASHIRE, CANTERBURY 1990’s.  A modern interpretation of the famous Chevallier Tayler painting of 1906, by Terence Macklin, featuring current Kent CCC players in a similar setting.  Signed in pencil by players featured : M.J. McCague, R.M. Ellison, G.R. Cowdrey, M.V. Fleming, A.P. Igglesden, M.A. Ealham, M.R. Benson, S.A. Marsh, C.L. Hooper, N.R. Taylor, T.R. Ward and C. Penn; also signed by the artist.  Limited Edition No. 76 of 500.  Mounted, framed and glazed.  83cms. x 65cms.        

There is Carl Hooper bowling, Steve Marsh’s backside behind the stumps, and all the others clearly recognisable. So where did this come from? We asked around. David Robertson, our Curator for the best part of a quarter of a century, did not know anything about it. Our two Kent cricket history gurus, Howard Milton and Derek Carlaw, could not help, and I had never come across it before, despite having written the book about the original painting and done what I thought at the time was some very thorough research on every aspect of the original. Clearly I hadn’t done enough.

Terence Macklin is a local artist, who loves his sport and who has painted several scenes at Canterbury, including this excellent one, entitled ‘Canterbury Week 1990’. He had for some years a gallery in Whitstable, and is, we think, still thriving, but we have not yet managed to make contact with him.

Our initial research led us to think the painting was commissioned for a player’s benefit year, and by a process of elimination, and by contacting Carol Buck, the player in question’s sister-in-law, we discovered that it was indeed created for Steve Marsh’s Benefit in 1995. There were 500 prints made of the painting, of which the one in the club’s collection is number 76, so what happened to the other 499? And why is there no mention of the painting or its fund-raising potential, in Steve’s Benefit brochure? Did it actually raise any money for our wicket-keeper captain? And what happened to the original?

My first thought was to ask some of the players who feature in the painting if they had any memories of the painting – whether they had to sit for Mr. Macklin, or whether they were given a print as a thank-you. Both Richard Ellison and Neil Taylor, with whom I spoke at the recent highly enjoyable Legends’ Dinner, seemed vaguely to remember it, but neither of them have a print, and never did. So that was a bit of a dead end, too. How could 499 prints of a painting go walkabout?

And then by pure chance, while googling for more information about the artist, I came across a photo of the painting, with the news that it had been auctioned by Parker Fine Art Auctions of Farnham in Surrey, in March this year. I immediately emailed the auction house, who told me that the original painting was what they sold, not a print, and that it went for £280. If only we had known, the Heritage Trust would certainly have made a bid for it. However, the auction house then put me in touch with the vendor, who confirmed that the painting had been owned by her late father, David Clark, who owned a company called Infocheck, which was a sponsor of Kent CCC in the 1990s, and incidentally took out a half page advertisement in Steve’s Benefit Brochure. His daughter also said that Terence Macklin had been commissioned and paid by her father to paint the picture, so that is why he owned it. What’s more, he made sure that there was banner advertising his company on the front of the Pavilion Annexe (now the Underwood and Knott Stand) in the painting. Incidentally, this David Clark is no relation to the late Kent captain, club President and President of MCC of the same name.

I have not yet found out who produced the 500 prints, nor where the other 499 might be hiding. If anybody knows anything at all about this painting or the elusive prints, please get in touch. We’d love to be able to give the story a happy ending, or an ending of any kind. And I wouldn’t mind having one of the prints for my own collection!