The joint St. Lawrence-Beverley Club continued to operate in 1946, still with one Thursday and two Saturday sides. Several players liked the experiment, and felt that there were advantages in having just one senior club in Canterbury. However, traditional loyalties now reasserted themselves, and there was little opposition at a Beverley meeting to Bill Parker's proposal that there should once again be separate clubs in 1947. With Parker himself elected Secretary to replace Alfred Divers, who had died in 1946, Stan Cripps elected Captain of the Thursday XI, and a Sussex Tour again planned, continuity with the pre-war Beverley was firmly guaranteed.^[1]

The decision seemed to be vindicated as the Club expanded rapidly over the next few years. At the annual dinner in 1947, Parker compared the 1939 membership – 30 players – with the current strength of 54, and concluded that "cricket was much more popular than it had been in pre-war days".^[2] Would-be members had even been turned down because there was no guarantee that they could be given games. It was quickly decided, therefore, that there should be two Thursday and two Saturday teams in 1948 – a move that was announced on the front page of the local newspaper under the headline: 'Beverley C.C.'s Future – Next Season's Expansion'.^[3] Within a year, membership had reached 70 – a level more or less sustained for several seasons.^[4] By 1954, a "large influx of new players which includes a high percentage of juniors", encouraged the Club to organize a third Saturday team, and a full fixture list was arranged for the following season.^[5] In the event, however, it proved impossible to maintain this level of activity. Although there were still 74 members in 1956, this represented a peak that was not to be reached again, and after a reduced 3rd. XI fixture list in that year, the Club reverted to just two Saturday sides in 1957.^[6]

The pattern of Thursday fixtures was broadly similar to that of the inter-war years. St. Lawrence and Kent College had been played since the 1890s, and Faversham Alliance and Simon Langton were old opponents, while Ramsgate Corinthians and St. Edmund's were played regularly after the war. The emphasis was still very much on local matches, with little travelling involved. On Saturdays, on the other hand, with home and away games now possible, the pattern was very different. There was less consistency in the fixture list, although Simon Langton, Nonington, Selsted, Whitstable and Sandwich were played regularly; and while most opponents still came from East Kent, some were from further afield, such as Marden, Tenterden and Rye. When the East Kent League was formed in 1976, dominating Saturday cricket, it consisted largely of clubs already played, and stretched as far as Lordswood, Marden and Hythe.

It was soon apparent in the post-war period that cricket, like other leisure activities, was increasingly focusing on the weekend. "There would likely be less mid-week matches in the future and more at weekends", suggested Bill Parker as early as 1948, and by 1954 Roland Blower's assertion that Thursday cricket was "not dying on its feet" already sounded unconvincing, even if the mid-week eleven was still arguably the strongest in the Club.^[7] From 1957, therefore, there was just one Thursday team: "it seemed that Thursday cricket was becoming increasingly difficult because players were not available", explained Parker.^[8] In the 1960s, largely under the captaincy of Alan Vaughan, the side survived and was reasonably successful, but by the 1970s the maintenance of even one team was in doubt. After a "mediocre season" in 1972, mainly because of "a serious lack of regular players", the Club was forced to consider "whether it was worthwhile running a mid-week side, certainly in the earlier part of the season".^[9] Indeed, the team was kept going largely through the importation of various 'guest' players, particularly from the University of Kent. Hence, in 1977 it was decided to continue running a mid-week XI "less the first five games of the season".^[10]

Oddly enough, it took some time for the seniority of the Saturday side to be recognized, despite the obvious decline in the importance of Thursday cricket. It was not until 1955, for example, that the Saturday XI's results were given first in summaries of the season's achievements, and it was not until the advent of League cricket in 1976 that the Saturday 1st. XI Captain – then officially designated 'Club Captain' – replaced the Thursday Captain at the head of the list of Club officials. In this respect, as in many others, the weight of tradition proved difficult to shift.

The growing emphasis on weekend cricket did not, however, lead to the fromation of a Beverley Sunday side as such. Many members would have liked Sunday cricket – it was rapidly becoming popular in the post-war period and was particularly attractive to those who were unavailable on Saturday afternoons – but the Club itself was unwilling to take the initiative. In 1948, therefore, the Canterbury Pilgrims Cricket Club was formed at a meeting in Monty Kingsford's house, with Kingsford himself, Colin Auld, Cecil Swain and Dick Skelton – all players who had had some connection with the Beverley – as the original office-holders. From its first season in 1949, the Club proved a great success. With no ground, almost all matches were played 'away', and a coach was hired to transport players and their families, thus contributing to the social success of the enterprise. Players were drawn especially from Beverley and Brett's – indeed several notable Brett's players such as Doug Toze and Ron Gawler, and later David Smith and Peter Burt, joined the Beverley as a result of this connection – but eventually the Beverley contingent predominated. When the Beverley finally acquired its own ground, an amalgamation with the Pilgrims was the logical step to take.

In 1947, it seemed that the Club's difficulties over grounds had been eased, as it was now possible to use the County Ground on Saturdays as well as Thursdays. Some problems still remained, however. In the first place, the Ground was shared with the St. Lawrence Club, and there were usually two matches played on each day – side by side and with overlapping boundaries. Secondly, there were some financial difficulties: apart from the cost of hiring the Ground itself, there were the inconvenience and expense involved in playing two-thirds or more of the matches away. "Last year over £70 was spent on transport", reported Bill Surrey in 1950, and it was pointed out that "it was only by making cricket as inexpensive as possible that they could be assured of young players coming along".^[11] The subject was frequently raised at committee meetings in the 1940s and 1950s, but none of the proposed solutions – such as "drivers of transport not to pay match fees and to receive an amount per member carried to be agreed between himself and the Captain" – proved satisfactory or permanent.^[12] Nonetheless, these problems seemed minor when compared to the privilege of playing on excellent wickets in such a fine setting. The lack of an adequate alternative was the constant lament of other Canterbury clubs forced to use substandard Corporation fields. "When offered return games at the Recreation Ground, clubs invariably refuse – apparently being only too well aware of the atrocious playing conditions prevailing there", complained W.J.Maple of the Payne Smith Old Boys C.C. in a letter to the Kentish Gazette in 1947.^[13] Two years later, the Beverley President, Col. Collard, reminded the members how lucky they were, but added that "they would be in a frightful mess if, for any reason, they had to give up playing there".^[14]

Meanwhile, the Beverley players took full advantage of their fortunate situation. At the 1950 dinner – reported in the Kentish Gazette under the headline 'Were the Old Days so Good? Canterbury Cricketers Say 'No'" – Bill Parker and others expressed the view that there was now "a far higher general standard and clubs did not have to rely, as in times gone by, on a few outstanding players".^[15] This impression is confirmed by the playing record of the 1940s and 1950s and by the evidence of the published averages. Notable bowlers in this period included George Chappell, the King's School groundsman, Monty Kingsford, the Saturday Captain from 1948 to 1950, George Shaxted and Ewart Bryant, while Jack Girling took all ten wickets against Sandwich in 1956.^[16]

BEVERLEY v SANDWICH, 1956

BEVERLEYSANDWICH

N.Gibson, lbw Brown........................... 12C.Thurstance, b Girling....................... 11

R.Woodcock, b Smith........................... 5J.Ash, lbw Girling.................................. 2

M.Bickerdike, b Belson....................... 22P.Kullman, b Girling............................ 33

D.Brown, hit wkt b Lapish.................. 32S.Lapish, lbw Girling.............................. 7

V.Allen, b Cheetham........................... 11L.Brown, b Girling............................... 13

S.Filby, b Lapish.................................. 26A.Fisher, b Girling................................. 4

J.Mayes, c Rolfe, b Lapish..................... 8J.Cheetham, c and b Girling................... 1

L.Tyrell, not out................................... 8M.Rolfe, not out................................. 16

J.West, b Smith..................................... 1W.Smith, b Girling................................ 0

T.Wilson, st Kullman, b Smith.............. 0G.Belson, b Girling................................ 0

J.Girling did not batA.Rowlands, b Girling............................ 0

Extras................................................... 6Extras................................................... 0

Total (for 9 dec.).............................. 131Total.................................................. 88

Girling 10 - 34

The batting was particularly strong. In 1949, for instance, five different players – Ray Greenway, Norman Else, Frank Hayes, Lincoln Packer and Tom Goatman – scored centuries for the Club, as did Ron Hughes – "in a characteristically vigorous innings" – in 1950, and Doug Brown and Roy Chapman in 1951.^[17] Brown, who captained the Saturday XI from 1951 to 1957 and again in 1961, was a notable wicket-keeper as well as a successful batsman, while Denis Reding, who succeeded him as Captain from 1958 to 1960, was another consistent run-getter. Ray Greenway was at his best in 1955, when he scored a century in 54 minutes against Gore Court – "chiefly with terrific drives and pulls, he hit nine sixes and 15 fours and scored 19 in one over". (Gore Court 193 - 6 dec.; Beverley 196 - 2 (Greenway 143).)^[18] Richard Mayes, who had played for Kent from 1947 to 1953, also turned out for the Beverley in the mid-fifties, before leaving for Suffolk. For most of this period – from 1949 to 1952 and again from 1954 to 1960 – the Thursday Captain was Bill Stace. "A fine upright batsman with a sound defence", he was a very reliable opener, who headed the averages in 1947 and 1954.^[19] "Despite the fact that on one occasion he went on the field with twelve men, he had made a good skipper", acknowledged his predecessor, Stan Cripps, in 1949, and that he remained in office for so long is a testament to the respect in which he was held by his fellow players.^[20]

There is general agreement, however, that the outstanding Beverley cricketer of the post-war period was the swing bowler Cecil Swain. He had played his first full season in 1938, when Laurie Kemp referred to him as the Club's greatest discovery since Arthur Fagg, and in that year he took 73 wickets at 8.3 apiece, including a hat-trick.^[21] In fifteen post-war seasons he was more often than not the Club's leading wicket-taker, and more often than not he headed the averages. His wickets usually cost him less than 10 runs each, and he was as successful in 1960 (43 wickets at 7.58) as he had been in 1948 (88 wickets at 7.92).^[22] Alec Mackenzie described him as "probably the finest club bowler in England", and Ralph Kemp was not alone in the opinion that "had he been blessed with good health, he would have been near the 100 wickets a season in county cricket".^[23] When forced to retire through illness in 1961, he had taken over 1,000 wickets for the Beverley, with a best analysis of 9 for 20 against Whitstable in 1957, when he also caught the tenth man. While the tributes paid to him at the annual dinner in 1962 naturally concentrated on his bowling, Stan Cripps added that he was "also a useful bat, a first class fielder and a good and very loyal sportsman".^[24]

BEVERLEY v SCAYNES HILL, 1950

BEVERLEYSCAYNES HILL

W.Stace, not out................................. 34K.Bastin, c and b Swain....................... 20

L.Packer, c Warder, b Burgess............... 1V.Hunsley, run out.............................. 62

F.Hayes, c Warder, b Burgess................. 3A.Pattenden, lbw Baldock................... 11

C.Swain, c Pattenden, b Tyrrell........... 98M.Spinks, c Swain, b Baldock.............. 11

T.Fox, c Doggert, b Tyrrell................. 33H.Warder, b C.Stace............................ 10

R.Chapman, c Spinks, b Tyrrell............. 1K.Doggert, b Swain.............................. 10

D.Cogger, b Tyrrell............................... 0J.Tyrrell, c Fox, b C.Stace..................... 0

F.Peel, c Pattenden, b Tyrrell............... 0L.Burgess, b Swain................................. 0

G.Cook, b Elliott................................... 1W.Elliott, c W.Stace, b Swain................ 1

E.Baldock, C.Stace did not batP.Pulling, not out.................................. 0

Extras................................................. 18L.Matthews, c W.Stace, b Swain............ 0

Total (for 8 dec.).............................. 209Extras................................................. 10

Total................................................ 135

Swain 5 - 10

In the 1950s the Beverley was a notably successful club, and regarded as one of the strongest in the district. This was reflected in the reporting in the Kentish Gazette, where for a while games were described under a separate headline – 'Beverley Matches'.^[25] When the newspaper instituted a cricket competition in 1953, with awards for the best individual batting and bowling, performances for St. Lawrence, Beverley, Highland Court and Pilgrims were specifically excluded.^[26] In the same year, indeed, the Beverley's defeat by Brett's was described as "one of the biggest cricketing stirs in Canterbury for many a day". ("Chiefly responsible for the collapse, I understand", continued the reporter, "were the express deliveries of the former City centre-half, Ron Gawler, who took four for 19.") (Brett's 237 - 8 dec.; Beverley 74.)^[27] The sense of pride in the Beverley's achievements was demonstrated, also in 1953, when the Club cap was re-designed and a Club tie was introduced for the first time.^[28] It was further emphasized in 1959, when Bill Stace suggested that a history of the Club should be written to mark its first 125 years. The author was Harold ('Plum') Warner, who had known Stace since their schooldays at Simon Langton in the 1920s, and who was a well-known and enthusiastic follower of all cricket in Canterbury and further afield. The History of Beverley Cricket Club 1835 - 1959 duly appeared that summer, with a foreword by Leslie Ames. It was well received, and favourably reviewed in Wisden and elsewhere.

At the same time, the Beverley had to adapt itself as the nature of club cricket gradually changed. For a while, the pre-war traditions of friendly cricket had survived more or less intact. This showed itself most obviously in the organization of the Saturday sides. Two teams of roughly equal standard were selected – although, curiously, there was only one Saturday Captain, with two, three, or even four Vice Captains to assist him. The pressure for a more competitive approach to the game was increasing, however, and in 1954 it was decided that "the arrangement of a First and Second Eleven shall be put into operation within the club for the 1954 season", but with the proviso that the teams "shall not be officially so named until the 1955 season".^[29] Yet despite the fact that this change was accepted by a large majority (21-3), the experiment was not repeated, and the traditional practice reasserted itself. In the long run, though, the pressure proved irresistible, and a special A.G.M. in September 1960 decided (by 13-1) – and this time finally – that there should be a First and Second XI on Saturday.^[30]

This development reflected wider changes in the game. In 1953, a meeting of the recently formed Association of Kent Cricket Clubs – itself a sign of changing times – discussed whether the award of trophies for individual performances was "detrimental to team spirit".^[31] Doug Wright – about to become Kent's first professional Captain – did not agree, and his view was becoming more common. When therefore Stan Cripps asserted in 1961 that "a good sportsman played hard to win, but enjoyed the game just as much whether he won, drew, or lost", he was expressing an increasingly old-fashioned view.^[32] While the rhetoric of the game survived, the reality was different. This was apparent at the 1962 A.G.M., when the fact that so many games were drawn was described as "disturbing in view of the efforts of the captains to play brighter cricket and obtain a result".^[33] In other words, merely playing the game for its own sake was no longer as entirely satisfying as it had once been.

This changing attitude may well have been a result of the growing influence of Test and County cricket on the local game. This is certainly apparent in the evolution of the Beverley annual dinners. For some years after the war, these continued to be successful Canterbury occasions, with the emphasis on the Club's own achievements, and they were reported as such in the local newspapers. In 1948, the Kentish Gazette referred to "the good fellowship and leg-pulling of the cricket field... and, as the evening wore on, members vied with each other in relating anecdotes of prowess – or generally lack of it!"^[34] The following year, the event even merited a front page story – 'Beverley Cricket Club Dinner – Celebration of a Successful Season'.^[35] As late as 1954, under a headline reminiscent of the inter-war years – 'They Enjoy Their Cricket – The Beverley Spirit' – the emphasis was still on the Club's own affairs.^[36] From this time on, however, interest was focused on the outside guests invited. Les Ames, Doug Wright and Bill Fairservice were regular visitors, joined from time to time by other notable Kent cricketers such as Frank Woolley, Tich Freeman and Godfrey Evans. Leading cricket journalists, including Peter West, E.M.Wellings Gordon Ross and particularly E.W.Swanton, were also invited, and the speeches of these distinguished guests – and hence the reports in the local press – concentrated largely on the fortunes of the county side or on the vicissitudes of the national game. One-day cricket, for instance, was discussed in 1961 (when Derek Ufton expressed his opposition) and again in 1963.^[37]

Meanwhile, several more immediately obvious changes occurred at the Club. One major breach with the past was the demise of the Sussex Tour. This had been revived in 1947, with Bill Parker again the organizer. It immediately proved a great success – not least for Sam Rogers, who took a hat-trick against Scaynes Hill – and re-established itself as a regular feature of the season. With minor variations from year to year, the fixture list usually included Pevensey, Braybons, Scaynes Hill, Mayfield, Ditchling, Hellingly Hospital and Burwash, and the matches were all-day games. One of the most successful of all the Tours came in 1951, when six of the seven matches were won – Cecil Swain taking 22 wickets, and Roy Chapman scoring an undefeated century against Pevensey – and although non-members had to be included occasionally to make up the numbers, success continued, on and off the field, throughout the 1950s. The end of the Tours came suddenly and sadly. In 1960, an especially wet summer, four of the matches were rained off. This obviously dampened the enthusiasm of the players in 1961, and at a committee meeting in June "it was regretted that as there were only four members wanting to go it would be necessary to cancel the tour; the first time since it was started in 1931".^[38] This was a particular disappointment for Bill Parker, who had been on every Tour, in the year that marked his fifty years' association with the Club.

The main problem that now concerned the Club's officials was the lack of a ground. As late as 1960, the Beverley was still able to use the County Ground for twelve matches on Thursdays and fifteen on Saturdays. In that year, however, the position began to deteriorate. In the first place, the increase in rent from 30s. to £2 2s. 0d. per match caused some difficulty as the Club's finances were not especially strong, despite the profitable annual dances held with the Pilgrims at the Abbot's Barton Hotel. Even more awkwardly, the Kent authorities allowed the St, Lawrence Club to use the whole ground for several fixtures. An extraordinary A.G.M. was then held and a special meeting with St. Lawrence and the County Club took place before a compromise was reached.^[39] By 1965, the allocation of games had slipped to seven on Thursdays and eleven on Saturdays, and Kent College was approached about the use of its ground during the summer holidays to ease the problem of an excess of away fixtures.

It had become obvious, however, that the long-term solution lay either in amalgamation with another club or in the acquisition of the Club's own ground. In 1963, the possibility of combining with St. Lawrence was considered, on their initiative. The Beverley A.G.M. decided "that we are not interested in merging with St. Lawrence C.C."^[40] Four years later, St. Lawrence solved their own ground problem (which was, of course, the same as the Beverley's) by linking up with Highland Court, thus placing themselves in a far stronger position than the Beverley when the Kent League was formed shortly afterwards. The Beverley meanwhile continued to talk about acquiring a ground, but took little action. At the 1968 A.G.M., for instance, "a discussion took place regarding the necessity to find another ground for Club use. Charlton Park was mentioned as a possible."^[41] In 1972, Pat Shirley suggested using Broome Park, but Bill Parker warned that "there were many disadvantages to having one's own ground, the principal one being that of expense". The committee was deputed "to go fully into the matter", but the outcome was unsurprising: "owing to all the imponderables and difficulties involved it was decided to shelve this matter for the present".^[42] Ironically, it was St. Lawrence who moved in and took over this ground as well, thus further strengthening their position in the Canterbury district.

In the early 1960s, several of Beverley's leading players – most notably Cecil Swain and Bill Stace – stopped playing, but a new generation was already replacing them. Foremost among these was Alan Vaughan, the son of Vic Vaughan, a Beverley stalwart and for many years the Club scorer. "Technically one of the best batsmen of the period in East Kent", according to Ralph Kemp, he made his first century for the Beverley in 1958, and in the 1960s hardly a year went by without him scoring another. At least as a century-maker, he must be accounted one of the most successful batsman in the Club's history. He also captained the Thursday XI from 1961 to 1967 and again in 1973, and although he was unable to play on Saturdays he proved an equally prolific scorer for the Pilgrims on Sundays. His best season was probably 1964, when he made 834 runs at an average of 75.8, with innings of 123 not out against St. Lawrence and 124 not out against Ramsgate Corinthians, sharing a double century opening stand with Pat Shirley in the latter match.^[43]

It would be difficult to find a greater contrast than that between the two batsmen who dominated Thursday cricket in the 1960s. Whereas Alan Vaughan was a tall, stylish and correct right-hander, Pat Shirley was a short, awkward-looking and unorthodox left-hander. Like Vaughan, Shirley scored his first century for the Club in 1958. A tremendous enthusiast for the game, he played on both Thursdays and Saturdays (as well as being a leading figure in the Pilgrims on Sundays) and captained the Saturday XI from 1962 to 1966 and the Thursday XI in 1968 and 1969. A serious accident then brought his playing career to an end, but with characteristic determination he continued to contribute enormously to both Beverley and Pilgrims as umpire, team manager, fixture secretary and in numerous other ways. He was particularly keen to encourage younger players and involve them in the Club's activities, and was largely responsible for the development of the various Colts teams and thus for introducing notable juniors such as Lindsay Wood, Roger Hodgkiss and Mark Dobson to senior cricket.^[44]

The third outstanding batsman of this decade was Ralph Carter. A dashing left-hander, he made several centuries in a dozen seasons with the Club, and his record rivals that of Alan Vaughan. His 163 not out against Sandwich in 1969 – in a remarkable match that saw over 500 runs scored in an afternoon – was one of the highest scores ever made for the Beverley.^[45]

BEVERLEY v SANDWICH, 1969

BEVERLEYSANDWICH

P.Shirley, c Martin, b Bourner............. 45G.Foat, not out................................. 120

R.Carter, not out............................... 163A.Howell, b M.Terry........................... 17

B.Terry, b Bourner................................ 0A.Smith, c Brown, b M.Terry.............. 56

D.Toze, b Bourner.............................. 34R.Ratcliffe, c B.Terry, b Rogers.......... 44

W.Webb, J.Keir, G.Brown, S.Rogers,D.Wellard, not out................................ 1

S.Tombs, E.Turner, M.Terry did not batD.Scott, D.Jones, A.Hill,

Extras............................................... 13K.Bourner, C.Martin did not bat

Total (for 3 wkts., dec.).................... 252Extras............................................... 15

Total (for 3 wkts.)............................ 253

Several other players contributed to the Beverley's success on the field in the 1960s. In 1961, for example, Frank Longley was the dominant partner in an undefeated opening stand of 225 with Alan Vaughan against Ramsgate Corinthians. Jeff Stickells, who opened the batting with Carter on Saturdays, and captained the side from 1967 to 1969, was another who helped make the team "one of the strongest batting sides in the district".^[46] It has to be said that the bowling never reached the same standard with any consistency. Nonetheless, by the end of the 1960s, Ron Gawler, Brian Terry and Steve Rogers – representing three differrent generations – were all effective wicket-takers.

The most important development in these years was the growth of competitive cricket, inspired particularly by the Gillette Cup (1963) and the John Player League (1969). The formation of the Kent League in 1969 sparked off the establishment of various local league and cup competitions – a process reinforced by national tournaments such as the Cricketer Knock Out Cup and the John Haig Village Competition. For many, this represented the abandonment of the essential traditions of the game, but nonetheless the Beverley A.G.M. in 1972 – the year that saw the start of the Benson and Hedges Cup and the first one-day internationals – discussed whether "games should be played under a form of Gillette Cup rules to give them a bit more life and ensure a result..."^[47] No conclusion was reached on this occasion, but the pressure for league cricket was already building up. By 1974, exploratory meetings on the proposed formation of an East Kent League were taking place, with the Beverley Captain Brian Terry actively involved, and in 1975 it was agreed at the A.G.M. that the Beverley should join.^[48] The League, comprising, initially, ten clubs, thus came into operation in 1976. "It is to be hoped that interest will be stimulated and standards increased as a result", wrote the Beverley Secretary, Robert Long.^[49]

The impact of the league was certainly considerable. To some extent a hierarchy of cricket clubs was being created, with the Kent League at the top, although without any promotion between the Leagues.^[50] This had all kinds of implications for the nature of the game and for the membership of clubs. It is arguable whether League cricket has improved standards – though there is general agreement that fielding has benefited. It is more obvious that the requirements of the competitions – overs limits on innings, restrictions on the number of overs permitted to each bowler, and the various points systems – have changed the way in which the game is played on Saturdays. Friendly cricket is now largely confined to Sundays and to the remaining mid-week fixtures. Initially, few players left the Beverley to join a Kent League side, but it was probably true that some able cricketers did not join the Club in the first place. More disconcertingly, several youngsters who were introduced to club cricket via the Beverley left in order to advance their cricketing reputations elsewhere. Lindsay Wood, a slow left-arm bowler from Simon Langton, who later joined the Kent Staff, was perhaps the most notable example; Mark Dobson, another Langtonian slow left-armer and a promising batsman, was, for a while, another.

In other respects the nature of the Club's membership was changing. For a long time the connection with Canterbury's shopkeepers remained very strong. Butchers were well represented in Doug Brown, Frank Longley and Vic Vaughan, while Alan Vaughan worked in Hollamby's (Bill Parker's shop), Bill Stace for Biggleston's the ironmongers, and Cecil Swain for Fetherstone's in Palace Street. By the 1970s, however, it was the academic fraternity whose presence was particularly noticeable. The occasional schoolmaster – such as James Partridge in the 1890s, Cecil Ward in the 1930s and Denis Reding in the 1950s – had always played, but the numbers now grew, with Alan Frost, a leading all-rounder and the Club Captain in 1981 and 1982, John Furminger and David Walters particularly prominent. The impact of the new University of Kent at Canterbury was equally striking. Chris Taylor was the leading batsman of the early 1970s, scoring 530 runs at an average of 75.71 in his best season, 1975; while David James (Club Captain in 1977), Michael Murphy (Club Captain in 1980), Steve Uglow and Paddy Ireland were especially influential in the mid-week side. At the same time, the combined effect of the motor car and of the changing structure of club and village cricket, altered the Beverley's 'catchment area'. In the 1950s, the Club was still almost entirely a Canterbury side. From the 1960s, however, players such as Pat Shirley, Jeff Stickells and Ralph Carter came from further afield, and by the 1980s over a third of the Club's members lived outside the city.^[51]

One fixed point in this period of change was Brian Terry, the Captain of the Saturday 1st. XI from 1970 to 1979 (except for 1977). An Old Langtonian, who had played in a Kent Schoolboys XI under the captaincy of David Constant, he first played for the Beverley in 1963 and made an immediate impact by taking over 50 wickets in the season. An accurate medium-paced bowler and a very sound batsman, he was a dominant figure for many years. He also helped establish the East Kent League, and played for its representative side for several seasons. When he ceased to be Club Captain in 1980, he took on the new post of Club Chairman from 1980 to 1984, and as such he played a major part in setting up the Polo Farm Sports Club. After a spell in the 2nd XI, where he was one of the outstanding players in the Division, he returned to 1st. XI cricket, and was again Club Captain in 1990 and 1991. In 1993, he reminded everyone of his skill by scoring 106 not out, in a total of 159 for 7, for the 3rd. XI against Alkham.

Despite the involvement in the East Kent League, the Beverley's situation deteriorated during the 1970s. In an inflationary decade, the cost of cricket rose rapidly. Subscriptions were increased to £3 in 1974, to £5 in 1975 – "from a financial viewpoint, 1975 was a very bad year indeed" – and to £7.50 in 1977, while match fees rose from 4s. [= 20p.] in 1970 to 80p. by 1977.^[52] Even more serious was the changing position of the County Club. The growth of one-day competitions, combined with the policy of reducing the number of grounds used within the county (from nine in the 1960s to five in the 1980s) and concentrating a higher proportion of matches at Canterbury, left fewer dates free for club cricket at the St. Lawrence Ground. The ending of 'double fixtures' in 1974 further aggravated the problem. By 1976, therefore, the Beverley had just five Thursday and six Saturday matches at St. Lawrence. A makeshift solution was to use the Kent College ground (from 1966 to 1976) and, increasingly in the 1970s, the University. Indeed, by 1977 the University was used for more 'home' fixtures than the County Ground, which was still officially the designated the Club's headquarters. With St. Lawrence also more expensive – £155.25 was paid for the nine matches played there in 1979 – a more permanent arrangement was clearly needed if the Club was to survive.

By the mid-1970s, therefore, the Beverley was in difficulties. On the one hand, it had joined the East Kent League – a reflection of the standard of cricket played. At the same time, however, there was no obvious stability in membership and the performance on the field was erratic – though there were individual feats of note, above all Henry Holdstock's ten wickets against St. Margaret's in 1975.^[53]

BEVERLEY 'A' v ST. MARGARET'S, 1975

ST. MARGARET'SBEVERLEY 'A'

P.Willcox, b Holdstock......................... 2D.Toze, not out.................................. 27

M.Fielding, b Holdstock........................ 0P.Porter, not out.................................. 8

C.Thurley, c Collingwood, b Holdstock. 4J.Meek, P.Polden, W.May, M.Collingwood,

M.Pickering, c Porter, b Holdstock..... 18N. O'Hara Smith, C.Johnson, K.Collard,

C.Hulks, c O'Hara Smith, b Holdstock... 4N.Bloor and H.Holdstock did not bat

D.Mitchell, b Holdstock........................ 0Extras................................................. 4

B.Fancourt, b Holdstock........................ 0(0 wkt.) 39

M.Clayton, b Holdstock........................ 2

J.Reynolds, b Holdstock........................ 5

J.Langford, c Collingwood, b Holdstock. 0

I.Hulks, not out..................................... 0

Extras................................................. 2

38

Without its own ground, the Club lacked a social centre and a focus for loyalty. In a city with several other cricket clubs, this made the Beverley's future seem very uncertain. And the 1976 A.G.M. received a familiar report: "no further progress has been made with regard to grounds".^[54]