Canterbury Cricket Week is the oldest cricket festival week in England[1] and involves a series of consecutive Kent home matches, traditionally held in the first week in August.[2] It was founded in 1842, although a similar festival week was first held in 1839 by the Beverley Cricket Club, the predecessor of Kent County Cricket Club.[3][4] Since 1847 it has taken place at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury,[5] before that it was held at the Beverley Ground in the same city. In addition to hosting cricket matches, it also includes several other events and ceremonies. As of 2018, there have been 167 Canterbury Cricket Weeks held.[6] The week continued through the Second World War with cricket being held on the ground each season.[7]
The politician and journalist Bill Deedes wrote in 2000: "while the Second World War was on, I consoled myself by thinking that Canterbury Cricket Week, founded in 1842 with its tents and famous lime tree, unchanging in a changing world, was the sort of thing I was in business to preserve."[8]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ECBCCCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Arthur Fagg (14 December 2010). "Kent's 2011 cricket fixtures released". Kent Online. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p387
- ^ Charles Taylor and Canterbury Cricket Week, Kent Cricket Heritage Trust, 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
- ^ Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p500
- ^ "Arafat returns to haunt Kent". ECB. 10 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ Cricket – Canterbury Week, The Times, 1944-08-04, p.6.
- ^ Simon Heffer (2015-12-02) Old Stagers knew how to take cricket to the people, The Daily Telegraph page 13. Retrieved 2016-01-27.