Blog

A collection of thoughts and opinions, interspersed with a few facts.

We welcome contributions from anyone and everyone.

Just send your suggestions or a complete article.

Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE CRICKET BALLS OF KENT

At the start of the 2024 season, the ECB decided to experiment with two types of cricket ball, Kookaburra and Duke’s, so that…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A Recent Acquisition

This article appeared in the Christmas 2019 edition of Inside Edge, the journal of the Kent Cricket Heritage Trust. From now on,…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A Cricketer’s Life

On Thursday 11th July 2024 Kent County Cricket Club hosts the 3rd match in England Women’s Cricket’s IT20 series against New…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

The Walter Lawrence Trophy

The Lawrence Trophy was instituted in 1934 by Sir Walter Lawrence, a successful builder and keen promoter of all sports, and is…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE KENNEDY GATES

George Kennedy and his gates When the redevelopment of the St Lawrence Ground began over a decade ago, the turnstile gates on…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

ESCAPE TO VICTORY

This is the story of a remarkable man, captain of Kent for a season, but a national war hero for all seasons. His name was John…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

Clearing The Lime Tree

The famous Canterbury Lime Tree, which stood on the St Lawrence ground for at least 180 years, was blown down in a winter storm…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A VICTORIAN ECCENTRIC

In the 19th century, there were many amateur cricketers – and a few professionals – who lived their lives in a way which today…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

KENT CRICKET IN DECEMBER

December seems to be the quietest month of the year for cricket in England, and Kent is, at first glance, no exception. However,…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

FOUR REIGN CRICKETERS

The sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II means that after seventy years there is a new monarch on the throne. It also…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

SWINGING SCOTLAND

The other day, a 51 year old man named Richard Scott broke a world record by sitting continuously on a playground swing for 36…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A VERY FAST BOWLER

Kent has never had much of a reputation for producing fast bowlers. Spin bowlers – yes, definitely; medium pacers – certainly,…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

WOOLLEY MEMORIES

Birthdays are a mixed blessing. One a year is probably enough, but they are fun when they happen, even though at my age I…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

SIXTY YEARS AGO

I was looking through, as you do, my collection of Kent CCC Annuals, and happened to open the 1963 edition for a quick browse….

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

KENT IN INDIA 1721

Historians suggest that the first known cricket on Indian soil was played three hundred years ago this year. Were Indians…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

FATHERS AND SONS

Over the years, many fathers and sons have distinguished themselves on the first-class cricket field. We can straight away think…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE HERITAGE OF 2021

The cricket season of 2021 was a strange one. The county championship was divided into three parts, like Caesar’s Gaul, and Kent…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME

(The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily endorsed by KCCC or KCHT) When Matt Milnes was called up to join Welsh…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

Winning at Canterbury

I was looking at an early book on Kent cricket, snappily entitled “Kent Cricket Matches 1719 – 1880”, written by Lord…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

Never Too Old

I was browsing, as you do, through my collection of back copies of The Cricketer magazine, and I happened to come across their…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

WHERE IS CHESTER-LE-STREET?

On 18th January 2000, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? featured a chap called Peter Lee (definitely not the former Lancashire and…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

ALL OUT NOUGHT

I was reading something about the Olympics, and whether or not they would ever allow cricket to be one of the participating…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE DAY I WON MY COUNTY CAP

I recently thought I’d ask a few of Kent’s stalwarts what they remembered of the day they won their county cap. To those of us…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE HSBAKPITFE SUCCESSION

At the Ageas Bowl on the second day of the Third Test against Pakistan, Zak Crawley completed his innings of 267, to beat the…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE HAT-TRICK MAN

I have played cricket at school, club and village level for over fifty years, and have fooled hundreds of batsmen into giving up…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE  BLAKERS OF KENT

If you take a stroll down the promenade at Hythe, between the fish restaurant and the Imperial Hotel, you will pass a bench…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

WE NEED A LIBRARY

Next week, we are going to begin the winter cull of books in the Kent CCC collection. We, in common with all county clubs, have…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE HISTORY MEN

Kent have just completed the biggest win, by runs margin, in their history, and the fourth biggest ever win in County…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A SHAMELESS PLUG

  My new book, Stories of Cricket’s Finest Painting: Kent v Lancashire 1906, is published on 10 July. This is the second…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

KENT AND THE WORLD CUP

The ICC World Cup is going on all around us (or at least, in those parts of the country not being flooded out by the glorious…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

KENT’S WOMEN ARE WINNERS

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Polo Farm ground near Canterbury to watch the start of the Women’s county season, as Kent…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

THE OLD BOYS CLUB

M.E. Trescothick, lbw b Stevens 5. Marcus Trescothick                                  Darren Stevens When this dismissal…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

TWO DOUBLE HUNDREDS

In February this year, the 28 year old Sri Lankan batsman Angelo Perera, captaining the Nondescripts against the Sinhalese…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

A GREAT COACH

I was recently at the annual dinner of the Kent League, a very enjoyable occasion which celebrated the successes of the leagues…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

DECISIONS, DECISIONS!

One thing about having a collection of memorabilia, portraits, cups, books, blazers and cricket balls – along with all the other…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

LAND AND WATER

Sometimes a stone gets turned over almost by accident, to reveal a long forgotten part of Kent cricket history, and names which…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

NAMING OF PARTS

Henry Reed, the Second World War poet, wrote a poem called “Naming Of Parts.” It begins “Today we have naming of parts….

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

MORE UFTON THAN KNOTT

On television this morning, the local BBC news showed a press conference with Jason Gillespie, newly installed as coach at…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

PRESIDENTS AND PLAYERS

I need to apologise for a grievous error in my previous blog. I stated, almost unequivocally, that “our President in 1984,…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS

We have recently had a few donations to the club’s archive, each of which has added to our knowledge of some half forgotten…

Read More
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust

Cricket in Crisis?

In the latest edition of our quarterly newsletter “Inside Edge” (email david.robertson81@btinternet.com if you want…

Read More