St Lawrence Ground
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox cricket ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds on which first-class cricket is played, having been in use since 1847, and is the venue for Canterbury Cricket Week, the oldest cricket festival in the world. It is one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that have had a tree, the St Lawrence Lime, within the boundary.
Capacity at the ground was increased to 15,000 in 2000, and four One Day International matches have been played there, one each in 1999 (part of the 1999 Cricket World Cup), 2000, 2003 and 2005. The ground was the venue for the first day/night County Championship match, played as a trial in September 2011.
HistoryEdit
The ground was first established in 1847 on farmland owned by the fourth Baron Sondes. The land was the site of the St Lawrence Hospital, a leper hospital founded in the mid-12th century, and immediately to the south of the Old Dover Road, which follows the line of the Roman road that ran from Dover to Canterbury.<ref name=cantcaa>Character area 8.iii, Old Dover Road and St Lawrence in Canterbury Conservation Area Appraisal, Canterbury City Council, 2011, pp.190–194. Canterbury: Canterbury City Council. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref><ref name=cat1dec11>St Lawrence Cricket Ground, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=cat11apr11>St Lawrence Cricket Ground, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref> A Tudor manor house had been built on the site after the dissolution of the hospital in the mid 16th century and this had been demolished by 1839.<ref name=cat11apr11 /><ref name=cccu6aug15>Sweetinburgh S (2015) Kent Cricket and a Tudor Mansion, Canterbury Christchurch University, 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=page>The Hospital of St Laurence, Canterbury (sic), in Page W (ed) (1926) A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2, pp.209–216. London: Victoria County History. (Available online. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref> In the 18th century the house was known as St Lawrence.<ref name=cantcaa />
The ground was laid out by Fuller Pilch, a professional cricketer who had been the groundsman at Town Malling and, from 1842, the Beverley Ground in north-east Canterbury. Kent County Cricket Club had been formed at the Beverley Ground in 1842 and the St Lawrence Ground was established to be used for their Canterbury Cricket Week in 1847.<ref name=times4aug47>Cricket – Kent v England, The Times, 1847-08-04, p.7.</ref><ref name=birley79>Birley D (1999) A Social History of Cricket, pp.79–82. London: Aurum Press. Template:Isbn.</ref> The 1847 Cricket Week saw the first first-class cricket matches held on the ground, with Kent playing England and the Gentlemen of Kent playing the Gentlemen of England.<ref name=kccc4aug09>Robertson D (2009) Read about the origins of Canterbury Week, Kent County Cricket Club, 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref>
Initially, the St Lawrence ground was used only for the annual Cricket Week, and pasture land for the rest of the each year.<ref name=cccu6aug15 /> A St Lawrence Cricket Club was formed in 1864 specifically to use the ground more regularly for cricket<ref name=miltonacs>Milton H (1979) Kent cricket grounds, in The Cricket Statistician, no. 28, December 1979, pp.2–10.</ref> and improvements began to be made to the ground in the 1870s after the amalgamation of the East (Beverley) and West (Maidstone) Kent Cricket Clubs, forming the current Kent County Cricket Club. The ground was purchased for £4,500 by the county club from the 2nd Earl Sondes in 1896, a purchase partly funded by public subscription, and became Kent's headquarters,<ref name=times14mar96>The Kent County Club and the St Lawrence Ground, The Times, 1896-03-14, p.13.</ref><ref name=times25may97>Kent County Cricket Club, The Times, 1897-03-25, p.11.</ref><ref name=hignell6566>Hignell A (2002) Rain Stops Play: Cricketing Climates, pp. 65–66. London: Abingdon. Template:Isbn.</ref><ref name=mq35>Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) A Half-Forgotten Triumph: The story of Kent's County Championship title of 1913, p.35. Cheltenham: SportsBooks. Template:Isbn.</ref> although it was only used for county cricket during the Canterbury week until well into the 20th century.<ref name=hignell67112>Hignell, op. cit. pp. 67–112.</ref>
Prior to the purchase of the ground there were few permanent structures on it, accommodation during Cricket Week being provided in tents.<ref name=cccu6aug15 /> The Iron Stand (now named the Les Ames Stand) is the oldest building still on the ground and was built in 1890; this was followed by the Pavilion, which was opened in 1900, and the adjacent Annexe Stand, originally built in 1907.<ref name=cantcaa /><ref name=radioww1>St Lawrence Cricket Ground, Canterbury: Cricketers at War, World War One at Home, BBC Radio, 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=kccc26sep10>Pennell M (2010) ‘Bob The Builder’ arrives at St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club, 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref>
Kent's first County Championship title in 1906 was marked by the commissioning of a painting of the team playing Lancashire on the ground. The painting, Kent vs Lancashire at Canterbury by Albert Chevallier Tayler, depicts a view of the ground from the Nackington Road End with Colin Blythe, Kent's greatest pre-war bowler, bowling from the Pavilion End of the ground. The Pavilion can be seen clearly behind Blythe. The painting was hung in the Pavilion until 1999, when insurance payments proved too expensive and it was loaned to the MCC and hung in the Long Room at Lord's. It was permanently sold to MCC in 2006 and remains in the Lord's Pavilion, with a copy hanging in the St Lawrence Ground Pavilion. <ref name=bbc27jun06>Auction feat for cricket painting, BBC News, 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2016-02-17.</ref>
Kent won three more County Championships in the years before World War I. War was declared during Canterbury Week in 1914, although cricket continued until the end of the season and matches were moved to the ground from Dover due to wartime activity.<ref name=lewis33>Lewis P (2013) For Kent and Country, p.21. Brighton: Reveille Press. Template:Isbn.</ref> During the war, the ground was used by the military and occupied by the Field Ambulance detachment of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade. Horses were stabled along the south side of the ground, including in the Iron Stand.<ref name=lewis97>Lewis op. cit., p.97.</ref> During World War II the ground was used as an alternative civil defence control centre.<ref name=ac132>Smith VTC, Seary P (2012) Kent’s Twentieth-Century Military and Civil Defences. Part 3 – Canterbury, Archaeologia Cantiana vol.132, pp.153–188.</ref> The Frank Woolley Stand was built adjacent to the Pavilion in the 1920s, and the Colin Cowdrey Stand added in the 1980s. Significant redevelopment was undertaken at the ground during the early 21st century, during which land was sold for housing.
Cricketing feats to have taken place on the ground include the first triple century scored in top-class cricket, by WG Grace in 1876 playing for the MCC against Kent.<ref name=ci2aug10>Rajesh S (2010) An early pioneer, CricInfo, 2010-08-02. Retrieved 2018-03-30.</ref> As of 2018 it remains the only triple century to have been scored on the ground.<ref name=17annual183>Batting records, Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017, p.183–196. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.</ref> Kent leg-spinner Doug Wright took his seventh first-class hat-trick on the ground in 1949, a world record that remains to this day. Six of Wright's hat-tricks were taken while playing for Kent, although only the last was taken on the ground.<ref name=wis69>Easterbrook B (1969) The heritage of our cricket grounds, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1969. Retrieved 2017-05-19.</ref><ref name=kccc18aug14>Robertson D (2014) A Special Centenary – Doug Wright, Kent County Cricket Club, 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2018-03-30.</ref><ref name=17annual199>Hat-tricks, Bowling Records, Kent County Cricket Annual 2017, p.199. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.</ref>
Kent have played more than 950 top-class matches on the ground, including over 550 first-class games.<ref name=17annual210>Grounds Records, Kent County Cricket Annual 2017, p.210–211. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.</ref> It was the venue for the first day/night County Championship match, played as a trial in September 2011, and regularly stages day/night limited-overs matches.<ref name=bbc9sep11>Kent get mixed reaction to floodlit Glamorgan game, BBC Sport, 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2018-03-01.</ref> It has been used for four men's one-day international matches and for women's international cricket Test matches and one-day matches, as well as for games by England Lions and age-group sides. In 2014, the ground was the venue for the first cricket match to be played between the Vatican and the Church of England.<ref name=ct26sep14>Dray W (2014) C of E wins with five balls to spare, Church Times, 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref>
The ground has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence since a 2013 sponsorship deal between the club and local brewery Shepherd Neame. The deal gave naming rights to the ground for a ten-year period to the company, which has been a long-term sponsor of the club and brews a beer named Spitfire.<ref name=ko21may13>Kent County Cricket Club rename ground The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent Online, 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=pro22may13>McPherson I (2013) Kent to play at The Spitfire Ground in ten-year deal, SportsPro Media Limited, 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref> The Supermarine Spitfire is associated with the Battle of Britain, much of which was fought in the skies above the county in 1940 and after which Kent's limited-overs team is named.<ref name=bobm>Spitfire fans now know what the name means, Battle of Britain Memorial. Retrieved 2018-04-07.</ref><ref name=spitfire>Kent & the Spitfire, The Kent Spitfire. Retrieved 2018-04-07.</ref>
Lime treeEdit
The playing surface of most cricket grounds are devoid of any trees or shrubs. The St Lawrence Ground was an exception: when the ground opened in 1847 it was laid out around a pre-existing lime tree, which was then about 40 years old.<ref name=wis69 /><ref name=tory11jan05 /> The presence of a tree within the playing area required special local rules. Shots that touched the tree were counted as a four, even if they ricocheted and cleared the boundary rope, and no batsman could be out caught off a rebound.<ref name=ci8mar05>Kent to replace the lime tree, CricInfo, 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2018-04-06.</ref><ref name=tory11jan05>Sapsted D, Fenton B (2005) Cricket's famous lime tree stumped after 200 years, The Daily Telegraph, 2005-01-11. Retrieved 2018-04-06.</ref> Only four cricketers are known to have hit the ball over the tree to score a six: Arthur 'Jacko' Watson of Sussex in 1925, the West Indies' Learie Constantine in 1928, Middlesex's Jim Smith in 1939, and Kent's Carl Hooper in 1992.<ref name=kccc8jan15>The Lime Tree’s demise: ten years on, Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref>Template:Efn
The tree was diagnosed with fungal heart rot in the 1990s, so was pollarded to encourage new growth. This reduced the height from over Template:Convert to around Template:Convert. On 7 January 2005 high winds caused the trunk to snap in two, killing the 200-year-old tree and leaving a Template:Convert stump. Wood from the dead tree was made into mementos and sold to supporters.<ref name=tory11jan05 />
A new lime tree was planted outside the playing area in 1999 by EW Swanton, with plans to use it as a replacement.<ref name=tory11jan05 /> The club moved it within the playing area on 8 March 2005, though it was then less than Template:Convert in height.<ref name=bbc8mar05>Cricket club reveal new lime tree, BBC News, 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2011-01-06.</ref> Redevelopment of the north side of the ground in 2017 forced the boundary to be brought forward, so it is no longer possible for the tree to be part of the playing area.
Stands and structuresEdit
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The ground includes five stands, four of which are named after famous Kent cricketers. These provide seating for over 2,500 spectators.<ref name=mdi>Matchday Information – The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=oldsite>Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence (old website), Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref><ref name=times14jun14>Henderson M (2014) Canterbury’s tale still has ability to charm during times of change, The Times, 2014-06-14. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> Outdoor, uncovered seating provides another 3,400 seats.<ref name=oldsite />
The Frank Woolley Stand was built in 1927 to replace a wooden structure known as the Telegraph Stand, which had been used for journalists and the scorers. It is a two-tier, cantilevered stand which cost almost £6,000 to build and held almost 1,700 spectators when it was first built. It was one of the largest cantilevered stands in the world when opened, and was known as the Concrete Stand until being renamed to honour Frank Woolley in 1973.<ref name=kccc15nov12>Kent County Cricket Club Announce Woolley Appeal Launch, Kent County Cricket Club, 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref><ref name=kccc23jan13>Kent Cricket launch Woolley Stand Appeal, Kent County Cricket Club, 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> Woolley, who played for the county either side of World War I, is the county's leading run scorer and has made the most appearances for the side. He played 64 Test matches for England and was an inaugural member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.<ref name=icc>ICC and FICA launch Cricket Hall of Fame, CricInfo, 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> The stand was refurbished in 1972 and in 2012 Kent launched an appeal to raise money to construct a new stand to replace the existing structure.<ref name=kccc15nov12 /><ref name=kccc23jan13 /><ref name=ko23aug12>Gidley A (2012) Kent County Cricket chiefs announce plans to refurbish Frank Woolley Stand, Kent Online, 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref>
The Colin Cowdrey Stand was built in the 1980s, partly financed by the sale of mementos after the pollarding of the lime tree that stood on the ground, and formally named after Kent's longest-serving captain during Canterbury Week in 1992.<ref name=times1jun85>Kent's famous lime helps build new stand, The Times, 1985-06-01, p.36.</ref> It is a three-storey stand with a conference room, club shop and outside seating for members on the ground floor. The Cornwallis Room, an indoor viewing area with catering facilities named after Stanley Cornwallis who captained the side in the 1920s, is on the first floor and the Harris Room, a function room with outdoor seating used for hospitality purposes and named after Lord Harris, one of the club's most important personalities, is on the second floor.<ref name=cwc>Pennell M Kent, The Cricket Writers' Club. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref><ref name=groundyourevents>Your events, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref>
The Les Ames Stand, closest to the Nackington Road entrance, has no public seating. Since redevelopment it consists of a public bar on the ground-floor level with 16 hospitality boxes and the main scoreboard directly above.<ref name=cwc /><ref name=heald>Heald T (2015) The character of cricket. Dean Street Press. (Available online. Retrieved 2018-03-21).</ref> The scoreboard, which dates from the 1930s, is one of only two manual scoreboards still in use at any major county ground in England or Wales.<ref name=cricnov17p80>Turbervill H (2017) County cricket in 100 objects – No. 1 Canterbury's manual scoreboard, The Cricketer, vol.15 no.2, November 2017, pp.80–81.</ref>Template:Efn The indoor cricket school, which stands behind the Cowdrey Stand, was rebuilt in the early 1990s and opened in 1992, replacing a previous building which had itself been rebuilt in 1976.<ref name=times21dec76>Sports complex plan for Canterbury, The Times, 1976-12-21. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref> An extension was added in 1995. It is named after Ames and Hopper Levett, another of Kent's line of wicket-keepers. It includes indoor cricket nets and a sports hall as well as an outdoor astroturf surface and is the base for the Kent Cricket Academy which works with young players across the county. A sports and physiotherapy clinic operates from the same building and provides physiotherapy support to Kent's players.<ref name=clinic>St Lawrence Clinic, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref><ref name=ko27feb18>Ex-Zimbabwe physio joins Kent set-up, Kent Online, 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-03-27.</ref>
The Pavilion was built in 1900 on an area of the ground where tents had previously been pitched during Canterbury Week. It is a two-tiered building, originally housing a luncheon room, committee room and changing rooms on the ground floor with seating for spectators on the first-floor and veranda.<ref name=times11nov99>Cricket, The Times, 1899-11-07, p. 7. Retrieved 2019-01-02. Template:Subscription required</ref> It is named the Chiesman Pavilion after a major benefactor of the club in the 1960s and 70s.<ref name=csoc19jun12>Moseling M (2012) Credit Where Credit's Due, A Cricket Sort of Chap, 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref> The ground floor contains a large room modelled on the Long Room at Lord's and the upper floor has seating for members. Mobile sightscreens run along the ground floor of the building as well as along the front of the Woolley Stand. The Annexe Stand was built in 1907 adjacent to the Pavilion, and includes seating on two levels.<ref name=cantcaa /><ref name=radioww1 /><ref name=kccc26sep10 /> It was originally built as an annexe to the Pavilion for ladies and was renamed the Underwood and Knott Stand in 2011, recognising the bowler–wicket-keeper partnership of Derek Underwood and Alan Knott.<ref name=kccc10aug11>Kent legends unveil Underwood and Knott Stand during Canterbury Cricket Week, Kent County Cricket Club, 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref> The stand contains a press room for journalists on the first floor and the Pavilion includes a radio commentary room.<ref name=cwc /> The gap between the two stands was filled in the 1970s by a set of changing rooms.<ref name=cwc /> This included an entrance to the field of play for players, who had previously walked through the Pavilion and on to the field through a gate at the front of the building, as at Lord's. The changing rooms were remodelled during redevelopment of the ground in 2010–11 and an extra floor added to the building. Both the Pavilion and the Annexe stands were refurbished at the same time.<ref name=cwc />
During the redevelopment of the ground, a set of offices were built adjacent to the Underwood and Knott Stand. These include a cafe on the ground floor, named after the ground's famous lime tree.<ref name=cwc /> The electronic scoreboard, which used to stand on this part of the ground, was moved to the northern side of the ground before being replaced, in 2017, by a new LCD scoreboard on the north-east corner of the ground.
MemorialsEdit
The Blythe Memorial was established on the ground in 1919 in remembrance of Colin Blythe and the other Kent players who had died during World War I. Blythe was Kent's leading bowler during the pre-war period and played Test cricket for England. He was the most high-profile cricketer to die during the war when he was killed, aged 38, near Ypres in October 1917 whilst serving in the Royal Engineers.<ref name=renshaw>Renshaw A (2014) 'Kent' in Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket's Fallen 1914–1918 pp.23–26, A&C Black. (Available online), retrieved 6 April 2016.</ref>
The memorial was unveiled in August 1919 and commemorated Blythe and the 12 other Kent cricketers who died during the war. The names of 12 more men were added to it after World War II.<ref name=lewis345>Lewis op. cit., pp.345–348.</ref> It stood at the Old Dover Road entrance to the ground until 2010 when it was removed for safe keeping during redevelopment of the ground.<ref name=lewis345 /><ref name=cantcaa /> The memorial was rededicated on the centenary of Blythe's death in 2018 on a new site at the Nackington Road entrance behind the Les Ames Stand.<ref name=k9nov17>Blythe memorial re-dedicated to mark tragic centenary, Kent County Cricket Club, 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.</ref> Some of Blythe's personal possessions, including two wallets he was carrying when he was killed and which were torn by the shrapnel which killed him, are on display inside the Pavilion on the ground.<ref name=lewis345 /><ref name=gran13nov07>Keeting F (2007) A poignant reminder of the talents stolen from sport, The Guardian, 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2016-04-06.</ref>
A memorial to Fuller Pilch, who established the ground in 1847, was moved from his grave at St Gregory's church in the city to the ground in 1978.<ref name=tory25jun08>Tibbetts G (2008) Grave of Fuller Pilch, 19th century cricketer, delays £8 million concert hall, The Daily Telegraph, 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref><ref name=bbc1jul08>Old picture solves grave mystery, BBC News, 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref> The graveyard had fallen into disuse and the memorial was moved to the ground where it stood, near to the Blythe memorial, until redevelopment in 2010 when it was also removed for safe keeping to a stone mason's yard.
The front of the Pavilion features a number of memorial plaques, including a memorial to the members of Band of Brothers, an amateur cricket club closest associated with Kent, who died during World War I and II and the bronze which was used to cast the original Fuller Pilch memorial.
Ground redevelopmentEdit
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The club announced in late 2006 that it would seek to redevelop the ground. The planned £9 million development would include a hotel, health and fitness centre and conference facilities and would have involved the removal of the Les Ames Stand (the former Iron Stand) at the Nackington Road End of the ground, the oldest structure on the ground.<ref name=ko16mar06>Kent unveil vision for St Lawrence future, Kent Online, 2006-03-16. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref><ref name=ko23mar06>Residents air fears over cricket ground plans, Kent Online, 2006-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref><ref name=times27jun07>Tennant I (2007) Canterbury tails are up over Kent redevelopment plans, The Times, 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref> The plans involved the upgrading of the pavilion and other stands on the ground. Money for the project would be raised by the building of private housing on the nets behind the pavilion and on the car park of the local pub, the Bat and Ball.<ref name=ko16mar06 />
The plans were controversial and the Kent Committee suggested that if they were not approved by the membership of the club that an alternative might be to move the county's headquarters to a ground closer to the M25 in order to attract more spectators.<ref name=ko23mar06 /><ref name=times27jun07 /><ref name=ko15mar07>Contentious plans set to be hot topic at Kent AGM, Kent Online, 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref><ref name=6sep07>Kent members back St Lawrence redevelopment plans, Kent Online, 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref> Following problems associated with the global economic downturn the redevelopment plans were put on indefinite "hold" in 2008.<ref name=ko2sep09>Redevelopment of Kent's St Lawrence Cricket Ground is back on the cards, Kent Online, 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref><ref name=ci28jul08>Tennant I (2008) Canterbury feels the crunch, CricInfo, 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2018-03-26.</ref><ref name=gran10dec08>Recession stumps Kent's plans to redevelop St Lawrence Ground, The Guardian, 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2018-04-02.</ref>
The plans were resurrected in summer 2009 and in March 2010 the club confirmed that Bellway would be its housing partner for the redevelopment project after the financial collapse of Persimmon Homes, the original housing developer.<ref name=ko27mar10>Bellway announced as cricket club development partner, Kent Online, 2010-03-27. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref><ref name=ko28sep10>Kent captain Rob Key helps start work on St Lawrence Ground redevelopment, Kent Online, 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref> Work started in September 2010 on developing the ground.<ref name=cwc /><ref name=ko28sep10 /><ref name=bbc27sep10>Kent Cricket Club's Canterbury ground revamp under way, BBC News, 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2018-03-24.</ref> Five permanent, retractable floodlight pylons were installed in the 2010–11 off-season and the dressing rooms were refurbished and redeveloped.<ref name=ko17nov10>Pictures: St Lawrence revamp snaps will bowl you over, Kent Online, 2010-11-17. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref> The floodlights replaced temporary lights which had proved unreliable in strong winds and had restricted the county's ability to play evening Twenty20 matches.<ref name=ko26nov09>Hoad A (2009) Floodlit cricket off the agenda at Kent, Kent Online, 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref>
Land behind the Pavilion was sold to Bellway in 2011<ref name=ko13jan11>Hoad A (2011) Land sale helps Kent County Cricket Club profits, Kent Online, 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2018-03-28.</ref> and in March 2012 a new Sainsbury's Local convenience store opened. This faces out of the ground and occupies the ground floor of the new club administration building alongside the Lime Tree Cafe inside the ground.<ref name=kcccsains>Kent County Cricket Club welcomes Sainsbury's to the St Lawrence Ground, Kent County Cricket Club, 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2013-02-19.</ref> The building was partly funded by a loan from Canterbury City Council.<ref name=ci13jan12>Kent offered loan for development, CricInfo, 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2018-03-29.</ref>
In 2013, the club announced they had been unable to find a partner for the hotel and fitness centre and instead hoped to build 60 retirement flats on the northern side of the ground.<ref name=knflats>Miles G Kent hope to build retirement flats at St Lawrence Ground, Kent News. Retrieved 2013-03-14. Archived on 2018-02-08.</ref> Canterbury City Council initially rejected the planning application in late 2014,<ref name=kccc10dec14>Planning application for retirement apartments refused, Kent County Cricket Club, 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2018-02-08.</ref> but the decision was overturned and construction began in 2016 and was completed by the start of the 2018 season.<ref name=kccc25mar16>Update on McCarthy and Stone development at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club, 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2018-02-08.</ref> The new plans were restricted to the northern edge of the ground along the Old Dover Road and ensured that the Les Ames Stand was retained on the ground. The development was opened in 2017 and named Freeman House in honour of Kent's leading wicket-taker, Tich Freeman.<ref name=kccc22dec16>New building to be named in honour of Tich Freeman, Kent County Cricket Club, 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2018-04-11.</ref> At the same time, a new electronic scoreboard was installed near to the apartments.
TransportEdit
The ground is located Template:Convert south-east of the centre of Canterbury on the B2068 Old Dover Road. The Nackington Road runs along the eastern edge of the ground. It is Template:Convert from Canterbury East railway station on the London Victoria to Dover line. Canterbury West railway station, on the other side of the city centre, is Template:Convert away and is on the London Charing Cross to Ramsgate line and High Speed 1 from London St Pancras to Margate.<ref name=cwc /><ref name=newsite>The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2018-04-06.</ref>
Although it remains possible to park cars on the boundary edge, redevelopment has restricted the number that can be driven onto the ground and parking is now restricted to car-parking season-ticket holders, with a small number of parking spaces reserved for disabled drivers.<ref name=mdi /> Car parking is available for some days at Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School, which is adjacent to the ground on the Nackington Road side, while Canterbury City Council's large Old Dover Road park-and-ride facility is within a 10–15 minutes' walk from the ground.<ref name=mdi /><ref name=newsite /> Canterbury Park and Ride buses stop immediately outside the ground on their way into the city, and other local bus services serve the ground either from outside it or on the A2050 New Dover Road Template:Convert from the entrance to the ground.<ref name=newsite /><ref name=pr>Park and ride, Canterbury City Council. Retrieved 2018-04-06.</ref>
Other usesEdit
The ground has been used for a number of music concerts, beginning with Elton John who appeared at the ground in 2006.<ref name=kccc23mar09>Club announces two major concerts, Kent County Cricket Club, 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> In recent years, concerts, which take place during the summer using a temporary stage at the Nackington Road end of the ground, have featured artists such as Madness, Olly Murs, Bryan Adams, Tom Jones, and Michael Bublé.<ref name=kccc14sep15>Grandslam Madness draws 12,500 to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> It has been used as a venue for the Canterbury Festival, an arts festival held in the city each autumn, hosting the Spiegeltent.<ref name=kccc1oct15>Canterbury Festival 2015: Spiegeltent returns to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Kent County Cricket Club, 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref> Rooms at the ground can be hired for a number of purposes and the cafe and cricket shop open throughout the year.<ref name=groundyourevents /><ref name=ltc>Lime Tree Cafe, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref><ref name=ksn29apr16>Wolfe S (2016) Club shop a success at Kent Cricket, Kent Sport News, 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref>
A fireworks display is held at the ground annually around Guy Fawkes Night.<ref name=kl9oct17>MacDougall L (2017) Fireworks at the Kent County Cricket Club - all you need to know about the Spitfire Ground's big display in Canterbury, Kent Live, 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-03-25.</ref>
Records on the groundEdit
Over 600 first-class and 350 List A matches have been played on the ground.
All records last updated 30 November 2021
First-class cricketEdit
- Highest total: 676 by the Australians against Kent, 1921
- Lowest total: 30 by Gentlemen of England against Gentlemen of Kent, 1859
- Highest partnership: 423 unbroken, 2nd wicket by JM Cox and JA Leaning, for Kent against Sussex, 2020Template:Efn
- Highest individual score: 344, WG Grace for Gentlemen of the MCC against Kent, 1876
- Best bowling in an innings: 10/69, EM Grace for Gentlemen of the MCC against Kent, 1862
- Best bowling in a match: 18/96, H Arkwright for Gentlemen of the MCC against Gentlemen of Kent, 1861
List A cricketEdit
- Highest total: 425/1 by England Lions against Sri Lanka A, 2016
- Lowest total: 60 by Derbyshire against Kent, 2008
- Highest partnership: 367, 2nd wicket by DJ Bell-Drummond and BM Duckett for England Lions against Sri Lanka A, 2016
- Highest individual score: 220 not out, BM Duckett for England Lions against Sri Lanka A, 2016
- Best bowling: 6/17, AJ Hollioake for Surrey against Kent, 2003
Twenty20 cricketEdit
- Highest total: 250/6 by Surrey against Kent, 2018
- Lowest total: 93 by Durham against Kent, 2009
- Highest partnership: 169, 1st wicket by T Banton and DP Conway for Somerset against Kent, 2021
- Highest individual score: 129, DT Christian for Middlesex against Kent, 2014
- Best bowling: 5/21, Imran Qayyum for Kent against Somerset, 2019
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Official website
- The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence at Kent County Cricket Club
- St Lawrence Ground at Cricinfo
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