The 'East Kent Beverley Cricket Club' had ended 1842 apparently in a prosperous state. 1843 was therefore anticipated with what seemed to be appropriate enthusiasm and optimism:

"... from the spirit with which all classes, alike citizens and county residents, are coming forward to support the club, the approaching season will doubtless prove the most attractive and splendid ever witnessed. Fuller Pilch has already become a resident at Canterbury, and the Beverley Ground is in the best order, and not to be surpassed by any in the kingdom. It is now under the superintendence of Pilch, undergoing all the needful preparation for the period when Kent's manly sons will enter the lists in amicable strife against those of other counties of England, for the laurels of cricket." [1]

In the event, this optimism proved to be misplaced – at least as far as the Club's finances were concerned. The accounts presented at the annual meeting in May 1844 showed a deficit of over £100, in contrast to the previous year's profit. As a result, the Club had to embark, in proper Gladstonian fashion, on a policy of "judicious retrenchment". The committee therefore regretted "that it is not advisable to enter into the Sussex, Penenden Heath, and Leeds matches". [2] In other words, it was proposed to limit the 'grand matches' at Canterbury to those played in Cricket Week by Kent and the Gentlemen of Kent. The "customary parish matches" were to continue, and, as it turned out, the Sussex match was in fact played, but the crisis was the first of several over the next few decades that threatened the Club's very existence. Apart from anything else, it highlighted the fact that the interests of local cricketers and of the organizers of county matches were far from being the same.

This confusion of functions and interests is reflected in the confusion of names under which the Club's various activities were conducted in this period. In 1842 it was still known as the Beverley Cricket Club, even when organizing county cricket (though the poster for the Kent-England match was headed 'Kent Club', and the fixture list in Bell's Life was headed 'East Kent Beverley Club'). In 1843 and 1844 the programme for the year appeared under the auspices of the 'East Kent Cricket Club', but local matches were still generally reported as being played by the Beverley. By 1845 it was the 'Kent Cricket Club' that published the fixture list and ran Cricket Week, but still the Beverley that was playing local games. By the end of the decade, however, the name 'Beverley' had largely disappeared, as local matches were generally described as being played by 'Canterbury' while the more prestigious games were contested by 'East Kent'. It was only after 1850 – presumably with William de Chair Baker taking responsibility for most of the Club's business – that the original name began to reassert itself.

That these differences of name represented something more than a mere matter of words is shown by the affair of Morrison's benefit in 1848. Frederick Morrison – "an old Kent cricketer, and a highly respectable man" – had been "one of the first players in the old Beverley Club, now more widely known and universally appreciated as the 'East Kent Club'", as the Kent Herald explained. [3] He had indeed played for the side in every season since 1835 – the only player to do so. It was therefore decided to organize a benefit match for him on June 21st. and 22nd., between sides representing the Gentlemen of Kent and the Gentlemen of Cambridge University. The promoters were described, in a letter to the Kent Herald that was presumably intended to reflect on the current Kent officials, as "the old working committee of the original Beverley Cricket Club, who worked in the winter that they might play in the summer; who having 'nulli secundus' for their motto, and acting on the spirit of the motto and character of the honorable member for East Kent, 'deeds not words', set to work and beat all England on their ground..." [4] The occasion itself was fairly successful: the ground was well attended, the band of the 78th. played, and Felix scored 77 for Kent and John Lee 110 for Cambridge, who won the match. However, the newspaper reports made it clear that the organizers had faced some opposition from the Kent committee. It was noted that while the umpires, Pilch and Martingell, and the scorers had provided their services free of charge, the committee had declined to waive the rent for the use of the ground. A pointed reference to the Bakers as "the original institutors of the Kent Club" emphasized that there was dissatisfaction in some quarters with the way the Club was now being run. [5]

To some extent, the problem was solved, at least superficially, when William de Chair Baker became Secretary in 1849. His main concern was to run Cricket Week, which he did, despite the various vicissitudes of Kent cricket organization, until his death in 1888. In addition, he played regularly in the early 1850s, scoring an undefeated 50 against Boughton Aluph in 1850, and even being described as the Club's "best batter" in 1853. Admittedly this last is an extraordinary comment on a match in which Fuller Pilch played and scored a fifty, but Baker was at least good enough to represent Kent on several occasions between 1841 and 1853. [6] With him in charge, the connection between Kent cricket and Beverley was clearly reestablished, even if teams were still sometimes described as 'Canterbury' as well as Beverley throughout the 1850s.

However, not even a man of Baker's energy and ruthlessness could solve all the problems of Kent cricket at this time. Indeed, it must be said that his personality only served to aggravate many of them. Financial troubles had nearly led to the disbandment of the Kent County Club in 1849, but a subscription from the citizens of Canterbury provided temporary relief. By 1852, the Kent team's disappointing performance led to further murmurings against the management – in particular that the Kent County Club was really only a Canterbury club and that Baker was running it dictatorially. [7] Matters came to a head in 1858, when moves were started by Edward and Henry Bligh, among others, to reorganize Kent cricket. The Canterbury authorities resolved to make some reforms, including a better procedure for selecting teams, but Baker's attitude – he undertook to manage "on condition that he should not be fettered by any committee whatever" – prevented compromise. As a result, a new Kent County Club was established at Maidstone in March, 1859. In effect, therefore, what was now often called the 'Beverley Kent Club' was left merely running Canterbury Cricket Week, while the 'Kent County Club' ran all other county cricket. This uneasy alliance then lasted throughout the 1860s, but it was obviously never entirely satisfactory. [8]

One major development had already taken place before Baker assumed control. In 1847, after five seasons at St. Stephen's and seven by the Barracks, the Beverley moved to the ground it continued to use, off and on, until the 1980s. In March of that year it was announced that "the club has hired a large tract of level green sward, at St. Lawrence, adjoining the Old Dover Road, which the veteran Fuller Pilch is putting into excellent order". [9] The Beverley were soon playing there, against Woodnesborough and Bridge, at the end of May. The match did not go well (the Gazette report mentions "unlucky fielding" by Beverley – the first recorded reference to dropped catches?) but "the company expressed themselves highly delighted with the ground, and the excellent accommodation afforded them". [10]

The wicket was an improvement on its predecessors, though it was still remembered as "fiery" by Lord Harris, who first encountered it in the late 1860s. [11] It was also many years before a pavilion was built, and with boundaries not being used until the 1860s at the earliest there were few seats for spectators. Hence the facilities for players and public were mostly temporary, in the form of booths and marquees, giving the ground the appearance of a fair on match days. As at the Barracks ground, refreshments were supplied by a local landlord; in 1847, this was Mr. Duncan of the Queen's Head; in 1849, it was Mr. Christie of the Mermaid Inn; by the mid-1850s, it was Mr. Petts of the Ethelbert Tavern. [12] Despite its limitations, however, the St. Lawrence Ground was still reckoned to be one of the best in England in the mid-nineteenth century. [13]

While Cricket Week was the great showpiece of the Club's year, local matches were still of major importance in a period when the county side played only a handful of matches. [14] After the temporary crisis of 1844, the practice of grand matches at club level – generally played over two days, Monday and Tuesday – was resumed. In 1846, for example, the 'East Kent Club' played two games with the South London Club (the basis of the Surrey team). As the two Pilches and Martingell played, as well as Frederick Fagge, Sharp, Minter and other Beverley regulars, this was clearly a 'club and ground' fixture, but with all the paraphernalia of a band playing during the intervals and a dinner afterwards. It was repeated in 1847, with similar teams, and was still being played ("for 100 guineas") in 1851 – or would have been, but for the failure of most of the South London team to turn up! [15] Among the other two-day matches organized in this period were those against Woodnesborough (1847), Stilebridge (1850), Sevenoaks Vine (1851), Penshurst (1855 and 1856), Benenden (1857 and 1858) and Lydd (1858 and 1859). The age of such fixtures was passing, however, and they disappear completely from reports of Beverley matches in the 1860s. The Club's record in these prestigious encounters was particularly good, with over half the matches being won.

At local level, the picture is less clear. Undoubtedly many games were played, but even when allowance is made for the patchy nature of the reporting in the local press, it seems that there was no regular fixture list. Several opponents were played intermittently over this period, such as Boughton Aluph, Faversham and Gore Court, but otherwise only Selling in the 1850s and Folkestone in the late 1850s and the 1860s appear to have been played at all consistently. Whether this reflects the transient nature of other cricket clubs or the casual way of arranging matches is hard to say. It is equally difficult to comment on the Beverley's success at this level as the composition of the teams was as erratic as the fixture list. The general impression, however, is that the Club was clearly the strongest in East Kent and could, if it wanted, turn out a team to match any opposition in the district.

The presence of professionals on the Club's staff was perhaps the main reason for this strength and success. Their influence was most obviously felt on the field, but they must also have contributed a great deal as coaches and as a stimulus to the aspiring amateurs. Fuller Pilch was obviously the most distinguished. Generally regarded as the greatest cricketer of his day, he continued to play until the mid-1850s – the 1855 Beverley match against Penshurst is often described as his last – and he remained an important figure in the Club as groundsman, umpire and landlord of the Saracen's Head, "the cricketers' headquarters", until he retired in 1869, a few months before his death. [16]

 
Marten's Directory (1855): advertisement for the Saracen's Head

The monument to him, originally in St. Gregory's churchyard, is now at the St. Lawrence Ground. He had been assisted for some years by William Martingell, another member of William Clarke's All England Eleven. According to Haygarth, he was "an exceedingly good round-armed bowler, rather fast... (who) delivered many 'no balls' through running over the crease... owing to his too great impetuosity... His style of batting is free and forward." [17] He left Canterbury in the early 1850s to become a successful coach at Rugby, Eton and Bradfield.

Of more importance to the Beverley as a player was Fuller Pilch's nephew William. He was a cricketer of some distinction in his own right, appearing for Kent regularly from 1845 to 1854 as well as for the Players on several occasions. "A useful batsman and bowler", as well as "one of the best long-stops there has ever been, being wonderfully active and sure at that important post in the field", he played more than anyone for the Club from 1845 until the early 1860s. [18] In these years he put in many useful performances, but he was perhaps at his best in 1854, when he scored 91 out of 199 against Ashford, and followed this by making 75 out of a massive 268 against Minster a week later. [19] He also assisted his uncle at the Saracen's Head, where they combined running the inn with supplying cricket equipment.

As far as individual achievements for the Club are concerned, the playing record of the Pilches was surpassed by that of William Goodhew. Haygarth described him as "a good free hitter, with a capital style of play... also an excellent long-stop. Bowls round-arm of a middle speed." [20] He had been a Kent player since 1854, and arrived at the Beverley in 1856. Two years later, he scored 77 against Lydd (Beverley 174 and 48; Lydd 99 and 68), and then, in August, at the St. Lawrence Ground, he made 103 against Benenden. For this outstanding feat – presumably the first century for the Club – he was duly presented with a purse. [21]

In the following summer, he confirmed that he was an all-rounder of distinction by scoring 89 out of 168 and also taking 8 wickets in the match against Winsborough (Winsborough 95 and 80; Beverley 168: "the Beverley secured the laurels – mainly through the excellent play of Goodhew – who both bowled and batted in excellent style"). [22] Although he left the Club in the early 1860s, Goodhew remained an important figure in Canterbury cricket as groundsman and professional at the King's School for the next twenty-five years. [23]

Goodhew was also involved in the major development in the game in this period, over-arm bowling, which seems to have reached the Club in 1858. In June of that year, in its report of the Beverley's match against Selling, the Kentish Gazette observed: "the bowling of Messrs. Delasaux and Byron [i.e. Biron] on the Beverley side was much admired, but the high bowling of Goodhew was objected to by the representative of the Selling gentlemen". [24] A few weeks later, at Benenden, the Beverley side were on the receiving end: "the bad state of the ground and the high and sharp delivery of Holland combined to test the 'pluck' of the Canterbury party; they however showed a good front, but the laurels were carried by the Benenden club". (Benenden 121 and 76; Beverley 74 and 71.) [25] In August, the new style as operated by Goodhew and William Pilch – "high, home, and (not) easy" – helped the Club to victory against Lydd. (Beverley 115 and 158; Lydd 46 and 113.) [26] Controversy quickly faded, but it was not until 1864 that the laws of the game finally recognized what had been practised locally for some years. [27]

Although the professionals played such a vital role, the Beverley of the mid-nineteenth century was primarily a club for gentlemen. Both Goodhew and William Pilch played in a match in June 1861 billed as "between eleven gentlemen of the Beverley Club (Canterbury) and eleven gentlemen of the Folkestone Club" – and Goodhew took seven wickets – but the description 'gentlemen' was sometimes interpreted more strictly to mean 'amateurs'. Thus in June 1864 the match with Margate was specifically defined as "between eleven gentlemen each of these Clubs (professionals being excluded)". [28] Hence William Marten, engaged as the practice bowler for the season, did not play in this particular game. On the whole, however, this discrimination appears to have been uncommon. Indeed, it was part of the rhetoric of cricket's advocates that the game brought together enthusiasts from all classes. The report of the match against Chartham in June 1851, for example, observed that "a pleasant evening was spent in the old fashioned style of cricket meetings, in which all engaged participated, regardless of rank or station". [29]

The hint of nostalgia in this comment is perhaps a clue to the fact that the reality was often rather different. Cricket at the Beverley was inevitably an activity for the leisured classes at this time. Not only were the matches played on weekdays – grand matches usually on Mondays and Tuesdays, and local matches commonly on Thursdays – but they were all-day games. [30] Whenever there is a reference to a time for a match in these years it is almost invariably to a morning start. [31] Indeed, back in July 1837, it was reported that "Mr. Baker, of St. Stephen's, has invited the Members of the Beverley cricket club to a breakfast this morning, after which a friendly match will be played on the ground". [32] And having started early, the matches also ended late. In the early days of the Club, games had often continued until it was dark, but by the 1850s they ended typically between 7 and 7.30 p.m. [33] The two-day match against Penshurst in 1855 finished much earlier, however – "in order that the Penshurst gentlemen might return home by the 5.20 p.m. railway train"! [34]

For most people recreational opportunities were strictly limited. Organizations such as the Early Closing Association had been campaigning for shorter hours since the mid-1840s, but they had had few successes. [35] Even the banks and law offices did not achieve a half-day in Canterbury until the 1870s. All of which, of course, was a world away from gentlemanly cricketers playing from 10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., or even, as in the match against Gore Court in July 1850, postponing play from Thursday to Friday because of the weather. [36] Thus it was in practice only the professional cricketers who were likely to join the leisured classes on the cricket field and at the inn afterwards.

An advertisement placed in the local newspaper in 1862 makes this appeal explicit, while the size of the subscription would also have been socially exclusive:

"Any gentleman resident in the neighbourhood desirous of indulging in the healthy exercise of cricket can do so at a very moderate subscription. The subscription of £1 per year not only entitles the members to the use of the ground for practice, including the bats, balls, wickets, &c., and the practice-bowler; but also gives admission to all the matches played during the season, including the Grand Week." [37]

Among the gentlemen who did play were several from well-known aristocratic and gentry families. Lord St. Vincent, Lord Henry Paget (President of the All-England Eleven in 1860), Lord North and Sir Courtenay Honywood of Evington all appeared on at least one occasion. Several others who played more frequently were equally well connected. Frederick Fagge was the son of a baronet, Charles Vernon Oxenden, later Colonel of the Rifle Brigade, was the grandson of Sir Henry Oxenden of Broome House, while Wyndham William Knight, a regular player in the 1850s, was related to the Bridges and Knatchbull families. [38]

Both Oxenden and Knight were officers and Fagge was a clergyman, and the Army and the Church provided the Club with a number of players. While the ground was next to the Barracks, it was not surprising to find several officers in Beverley teams, with no less than five playing against Belmont in July 1844. [39] The connection remained after the move to St. Lawrence, with four officers playing against Folkestone in July 1856. [40] Apart from Knight, Captain Thomas Lambert and Captain Henry Taswell seem to have been the most regular players. Clergymen appeared less frequently. Haygarth describes Fagge, who sometimes used the pseudonym 'Fredericks', as playing "as far on as 1853, being one of the few clergymen who did not abandon public match playing". [41] However, Henry Brydges Biron – "a free and attractive batsman" – was another who played, and no less than four appeared in the team against Chatham House in August, 1858. (This last was a remarkable side, including one baronet (Honywood), a colonel (Armstrong), and a captain (Lambert), as well as the four clerics – Fagge among them.) [42]

The business and professional classes were also represented. Several members of the family of Thomas Thorpe Delasaux, the Canterbury coroner, played. The best known was his son Robert Augustus Delasaux – "a good fast medium round-arm bowler, breaking both ways, a fine cutter, and in the field, where he was very smart, either point or long-stop". He was probably the most regular Beverley player of all from the mid-1850s to the later 1860s, and he went on to become the first captain of the St. Lawrence Club. [43] Another regular player in the 1850s was Harry Austin, Architect and Surveyor to the Dean and Chapter, and later a magistrate. George Furley, the banker, Vincent Fenn, the governor of the county gaol, and William Fox Tomson, from the brewing family, were among other occasional players. [44]

It is also apparent that players came from all over East Kent, so that the title 'East Kent Club' was an accurate description. William John Banks, for example, who played frequently in the 1850s, lived at Oxney Court, near Dover. Alfred Gillow, who played in the late 1850s and early 1860s, came from St. Nicholas, Chislet, William Fox Tomson from Ramsgate, Wyndham William Knight from Godmersham, and many more from other towns and villages in the district. [45] The fact that the Beverley ground was also used by other clubs helped reinforce these links with the local community. Unsurprisingly, the Canterbury Garrison had used the ground on the Sturry Road, but they continued to play in the Old Dover Road, too. In the 1860s, the East Kent Yeomanry also played matches at St. Lawrence, providing another contact with the gentry. [46] Probably the most important connection, however, was with the King's School. The boys had played on the Bakers' original ground at St. Stephen's, then moved to the Barracks, and finally used St. Lawrence for their home matches until they acquired their own field at St. Stephen's in the 1920s. It was not surprising, therefore, that a number of them – including Henry Biron, Alfred Gillow, Henry Barber, Philip Menzies Sankey and William Fox Tomson – should go on to play for the Club and the county. Many gentleman cricketers first acquired their interest in the game at public school or at university, even before the 'cult of athleticism' became fully developed in the later nineteenth century. [47]

This picture of the mid-Victorian Beverley as a Club exclusively for gentlemen, assisted by a few professionals, does require some qualification, however. The background of several regular players from the early days is unknown, and many more who played occasionally in the 1850s and 1860s cannot be traced with any certainty. The presence of Pte. Dukes in an 1841 team, of Cpl. Darcy (88th.) and Sgt. Cottingham (58th.) in 1851, and of Cpl. Smith in 1853 and 1855, suggests that the 'other ranks' could and did play for the Beverley from time to time. [48] Nonetheless it remains true, with one exception, that all the regular players in this later era were either 'gentlemen' or professional cricketers. The exception is the mysterious 'Antelope', who played throughout the 1850s and early 1860s, and about whom little is known. [49]

The standard of cricket played in these years was certainly very high. Whereas totals of under 100 had remained typical in the early 1840s, both individual and team scores improved considerably in the later 1840s and the 1850s. Probably the new ground at St. Lawrence, as well as the law of 1849 permitting the sweeping and rolling of the pitch at the start of each innings, contributed to this, but so did the quality of the players. Apart from the five or six professionals, at least a dozen Beverley cricketers represented Kent in the period covered by this chapter, and a few more played for the Gentlemen of Kent. The performances of the Pilches and of Goodhew have already been mentioned but there were many other notable achievements in these years. In 1849, a total of 207 (Jonathan Collard 58) was made against Ash; in 1851, Henry Taswell made 83 out of 198 against the Garrison; and in 1857, Folkestone suffered as Beverley amassed 220 (Terry 36, Newbolt 32 not out) and then dismissed their opponents for 54. [50] Terry was obviously in good form at this time, as he also made 48 and 52 not out in the two-day match against Benenden. (Beverley 171 and 179; Benenden 117 and 87.) [51] Finally, in 1864, the Kentish Gazette's report on the match against Ashford exclaimed that "Beverley made an astonishing score; with only seven men out they obtained 246". (Ashford 82; Beverley 246 for 7 (Robertson 54, Raven 34, Taswell 33).) [52]

The achievements of the bowlers cannot be so easily described, as bowling figures were rarely published at this time. However, Archibald Harenc's 15 wickets against South London in 1847 were noted as a rare feat by Haygarth. [53] Similarly, Robert Delasaux's 24 overs for 25 runs against Penshurst in 1855 received a favourable mention in the newspaper, as did Clark's seven wickets against Maidstone Garrison, who were dismissed for 23, in 1861. [54] Unsurprisingly, the professionals, William Marten in 1854 and George Wilson in 1868 and 1869, also achieved considerable success. Perhaps best of all, however, were Antelope's exploits in 1864: he took nine wickets in the first innings and eight in the second against Littlebourne, and eight wickets, and a catch, against Folkestone. [55]

For a while, too, club cricket continued to attract crowds. There had been "a good attendance of company" for the match against Ickham in 1844, and the following year there was even a marquee erected on the ground and "a numerous party of spectators to witness the play" when 'Junior Beverley' met the Commercial Club. [56] In 1853, it was noted as a matter of some surprise that "comparatively few of our citizens were present in the field to witness the proceedings of the day" at the match against Dover in which Fuller Pilch was playing, but two months later the game with River "was a source of some attraction – the band of the 97th. playing on the ground". [57] Even in 1855, there was "a good assemblage... present, enjoying the game and the delightful scenery around" at Selling. [58] These days were passing, however. With county cricket becoming more organized, and matches involving the Gentlemen of Kent or wandering sides such as I Zingari and the Band of Brothers becoming more clearly distinguished from 'club' cricket, it would seem that local games were increasingly regarded as occasions for the entertainment of the players themselves and their immediate friends.

By the later 1860s, too, the Beverley was losing its preeminent position in Canterbury cricket. This is apparent from the use to which the St. Lawrence ground was now put. More cricket clubs were coming into existence and playing there. In 1865, for example, William Baker allowed the Working Men's Club to use the field for cricket practice on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 6 o'clock, and soon the Clergy Orphan School (later St. Edmund's) and St. Augustine's College, as well as the King's School, also played there. [59] In addition, there were archery meetings regularly and a Whitsuntide Rural Fete that quickly became an immensely popular occasion, with special excursion trains organized for it. Indeed, this was so successful that Baker found himself involved in an awkward correspondence with Mr. Mount – "the tenant, under Lord Sondes, of the cricket field" – over the rent that ought to be payed. [60]

The most important of the new cricket clubs was the St. Lawrence C.C., established in 1864. According to Lord Harris, "St. Lawrence was formed for the purpose of playing more matches than the Beverley could afford", and on several occasions it was described as "a junior branch of the Old Beverley Club". [61] Presumably the formation of a new club reflected some difficulties in the old, but the exact relationship between the two is far from clear. For a time, indeed, many players, such as Alfred Gillow and William Wightwick, appeared for both clubs, often in the same week, while Robert Delasaux, who was certainly the St. Lawrence captain for many years after its foundation, was also captaining the Beverley in 1869. [62] As they shared the same ground, which was described indiscriminately as 'the Beverley' or 'St. Lawrence', it is not surprising that the situation must have appeared confusing. [63]

The fate of the Beverley Club eventually turned not on rivalry with other clubs, but on the problem of county cricket. The Canterbury Week, run by the 'Beverley Kent Club' (that is, by William de Chair Baker), was operating at a financial loss, and the continued divorce from the 'Kent County Club', which ran the rest of the Kent matches, was both weakening and unpopular. The county was, in effect, still split between East and West – the cricketing divide reflecting the social and political. Several attempts were made to unite the two clubs, most notably in 1865. William South Norton, the K.C.C. Secretary, wrote to Baker: "the cricket of the County might be much improved in the future if an amalgamation with the Club at Canterbury could be obtained without interference in the maintenance of the Canterbury Week in its integrity". Baker remained characterisically obstinate: "any amalgamation would, I think, be injurious to the Club". [64]

The final showdown came in 1870. At the General Meeting of the Beverley Kent Club in August, a committee was appointed to "assist" de Chair Baker, with a view to "drawing up some fresh rules for the management of the Club". The real difficulty – Baker's idiosyncratic and autocratic approach – is apparent in the understated report of proceedings: "in the course of the conversation which led to the passing of the resolutions, it transpired that it is now thirty years ago since any Committee of the Club was appointed, and that no minute book or record of its proceedings was believed to be in existence..." [65] Herbert Knatchbull-Hugessen, an East Kent man but a member of the County Club committee, then provided the necessary influence to secure a further approach from the Kent C.C., who resolved on October 13th. "that this meeting is of the same opinion with regard to an amalgamation with the Beverley Club as that expressed in a report issued in 1865". [66]

On October 22nd., therefore, the Beverley Kent Club resolved:

"1. That the Kent County Club and the Beverley Kent Cricket Club be amalgamated in one club, to be called the Kent County Cricket Club; and that the St. Lawrence Cricket Ground, Canterbury, be the County Cricket Ground.

2. That the entire management of the Canterbury Cricket Week be retained by Mr. W. de Chair Baker, the amalgamation being effected on the basis that no change whatever take place in this Annual Meeting at Canterbury.

3. That Mr. W. de Chair Baker act as the Hon. Sec. of the Club.

4. That a President be chosen alternately from East and West Kent, and a Committee consisting of ten gentlemen from East Kent, and ten from West Kent, be formed to conduct the business of the Club." [67]

Finally, on December 6th., this compromise was accepted at the Bull Hotel, Rochester, by the subscribers of both Clubs. Thus, in the year that had already seen the death of Fuller Pilch, the Beverley Cricket Club ceased to exist.

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