In 1977, the Club's fortunes changed dramatically, if somewhat fortuitously. The Canterbury Hockey Club had been keen to find a new ground to replace the Kingsmead field it leased from the local Council. Dick Laslett and his brother Bill saw the potential of the Polo Farm site on the Canterbury-Sandwich road – once an orchard, but now "a derelict mass of tangled trees, tall grass and anthills" – and so they bought the land and re-sold it to the Hockey Club.[1] In order that this new ground should be fully used throughout the year, it was then decided to approach the Beverley with a view to a joint venture – a sports club incorporating the Canterbury Hockey Club and the Beverley Cricket Club. At the latter's A.G.M. in November, the Secretary, Henry Holdstock explained the proposal, and "it was unanimously agreed that we should proceed to indicate our interest".[2]

From then on, events moved rapidly. Surveys were made and the ground was cleared and levelled. This proved rather more awkward than expected when the remains of a barrack square were found: members of both clubs spent many weekends on their knees stone-picking in order to help prepare the ground for cultivation. The field also had to be drained and seeded; a cricket square was laid with the assistance of Brian Fitch, the Kent groundsman; and a fine club house was designed by Hockey Club member Richard McCarthy. To help pay for all this, financial assistance was obtained from the Sports Council, the Canterbury District Council, the Association of Kent Cricket Clubs and the Kent Playing Fields Association. In addition, an appeal was launched in 1980 to augment the various fund-raising activities already started.[3]

At the same time, a major reorganization of the Club took place, with Sam Rogers and Brian Terry largely responsible, in cooperation with Dick Laslett. In the first place, a series of meetings with the Canterbury Pilgrims C.C. led to a joint A.G.M. in December, 1979, when it was resolved that "the Beverley Cricket Club and the Canterbury Pilgrims Cricket Club should merge to form a joint club known as the Beverley Cricket Club, with the Sunday XIs known as 'the Pilgrims'".[4] Then, on May 31, 1979, the inaugural meeting of the Polo Farm Sports Club, incorporating the Beverley and the Hockey Club, was held in the Kingsmead pavilion. Sam Rogers, President of the Beverley and a Vice-President of the Hockey Club, was elected President of the new enterprise.[5] And finally, on October 24th., 1981, Polo Farm itself was officially opened by Harry Twyman, the President of the Hockey Club, and Sam Rogers, at a ceremony attended by over 250 members and guests.[6]

Cricket was first played on the new ground on May 1, 1982. The occasion was particularly memorable, as Doug Toze, the Beverley's oldest playing member, opened the innings for the Saturday 'A' XI against Hawkinge and went on to score an unbeaten century.[7] A few weeks later, the cricket section of the new Club was officially opened by Les Ames, and Sir Richard Hayward, President of the A.K.C.C., presented Doug Toze with a tankard to mark his historic innings. The Beverley then played an East Kent League Representative XI. Sadly the Club's performance on the field did not match up to the occasion, and a nine wicket defeat followed.[8] The inaugural ceremonies were completed at the start of the following season when a splendid new flag, based on the design of the Beverley Board, was raised for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Club had to adjust itself to its new circumstances. In particular, the practical business of running a large club house and looking after a ground had to be learned. There were numerous committee meetings to attend, a bar to be manned, a groundsman to work with – and all in cooperation with the Hockey Club. This took a great deal of getting used to, and was not accomplished without difficulty. In addition, of course, the whole enterprise was very expensive. Subscriptions rose rapidly – from £7.50 in 1977 to £15 in 1979 and to £33 in 1984 – and match fees increased almost as much – from 80p. to £1.50 to £2.80.[9] Even allowing for inflation, this represented a sharp increase in the cost of playing cricket with the Beverley, and the implications of this for the nature of the Club's membership were potentially awkward.[10] At the same time, fund-raising took up a great deal of time – with sponsored walks, lotteries, fetes and other activities. Perhaps the most important of these were the cricketing events organized at the St. Lawrence Ground for Kent beneficiaries – Alan Ealham (1982), Asif Iqbal (1983) and Graham Johnson (1984).

In cricketing terms, too, there was a rapid expansion in the Club's activities. This was most noticeable in the number of teams raised and competitions entered. As has been mentioned, the East Kent League began in 1976 with the Saturday 1st. XI involved. In 1980, a Sunday 2nd. XI was started – again by the indefatigable Pat Shirley – with some ten matches, and in the following year it had a full fixture list. This side rapidly proved a great success, culminating in an unbeaten season under Michael Burt's captaincy in 1985. The new ground also made it possible for the Saturday 'A' XI to enter the Second Division of the East Kent League in 1982, and they soon established themselves as a successful side. In 1983, they were runners-up, with Maurice Collingwood topping the Division's batting averages, and in 1984, Brian Terry won the Division's 'Player of the Year' award. In 1983, the East Kent League introduced its own knockout competition for the Tom Dearman Trophy, but the Beverley has so far made little progress in this form of cricket. In 1984, a Saturday 3rd. XI was formed – for the third time in the Club's history – and since then, there has also been a Sunday 3rd. XI, and even, on occasion, a Saturday 'Extra 3rd' XI. At various times, too, teams from the Club have participated in the Whitbread South East League, the indoor six-a-side league, and the Canterbury and District Evening League.

The Beverley also felt 'the wind of change' as far as the role of women was concerned. For many years, wives, sisters and girlfriends had played an important part in the Club's activities, but almost entirely in a subordinate role – "as providers of tea and children", as Stefan Collini has put it.[11] In this respect, as in others, the Beverley Cricket Club had proved a very 'traditional' institution. Indeed, in 1962, the A.G.M. had considered the problem directly when "after some discussion it was decided that the club did not wish to invite ladies to become Vice-Presidents".[12] It was not until 1970, when a dinner-dance was held in the new Chiesman pavilion at the St. Lawrence Ground, that women were invited to the annual dinner. By the 1980s, however, things were changing – appropriately, perhaps, at a time when Sue Goatman, the daughter of a former Beverley player, was Captain of the England Ladies Cricket Team. Corinne Brandt had for some time been rather more than just a scorer when she joined the official hierarchy of the Club by being elected Secretary in 1982. In the same year, Janet Lees played several games for the Sunday 'A' XI, batting with style and composure. Sue Goldsmith also appeared for the Under 15 XI, and in 1985, Nadine Arrt turned out for the Under 13 XI in a match against Whitstable: appropriately perhaps, in the anniversary year, she bowled an over under-arm.

It was thus a Club in the throes of major change that celebrated its 150th. birthday in 1985. The main event of the year was the Anniversary Ball, held in the Westgate Hall on June 28th. With many past players in attendance, and Leslie Ames and Doug Wright among the guests, the evening proved a notable social success. The cricketing highlight of the year should have come in early August. On Sunday August 4th. a match was arranged between the Canterbury Pilgrims and a Past Pilgrims side gathered by Pat Shirley, while on the following day the Beverley were to play a Kent Club and Ground XI. In a wet summer, however, the Sunday proved to be the wettest day of all, and continuous rain prevented any possibility of cricket on either day. A number of former players nonetheless gathered at Dick Skelton's to reminisce and reflect on the sunnier summers of yesteryear, and enough interest was shown to organise a Past Pilgrims match for 1986, and it has now become an annual event.

On the field, several players were particularly prominent in these years. Steve Rogers, who had first played for the Beverley as a schoolboy in the early 1960s, returned to be the Club's most successful League bowler. He was also the Pilgrims Captain in 1985 and 1986, and Club Captain in 1986. Peter Burt, who began as a fiery young bowler, and developed into a very capable all-rounder, became an inspirational Captain of a young and successful side in 1983. His younger brother Michael has graduated from captaining the Pilgrims 2nd. XI to leading the 1st. XI with equal success. James Hutchinson was the outstanding bowler in the Club in the later 1980s, and captained the Pilgrims from 1987 to 1989. His teaching commitments prevented him from playing much part in League cricket. (Indeed, for several years, the Sunday 1st. XI was often stronger than the Saturday side.) David Garrett, who had captained the Pilgrims from 1974 to 1978, and has since captained the Saturday 2nd. XI and the Sunday 3rd. XI, has been a stalwart presence for many years, as well as being a key figure in the management of the Polo Farm clubhouse.

Far and away the most important and successful achievement of the Club at Polo Farm has been its development of Colts cricket. In 1976, a Colts XI had been organised, largely by Pat Shirley, and in 1982, Under 13 and Under 15 sides were formed, again with Pat Shirley as the major influence. These teams were soon winning local competitions, starting with the Under 15 XIs, captained by Martin Keay, winning the Barry Roberts Knockout Trophy in 1984.[13] The Colts very soon graduated to county and national competitions, and in 1991, the Under 13s were county and South and South-East regional champions. Most remarkable of all has been the recent record of the Under 15s. Since 1988, they have been county finalists in five years out of six, and champions in 1988, 1989 and 1992. In the first two of these years, they lost in the regional finals, but in 1992, they went on to become regional champions and finished third in the national championships. Under the chairmanship of Ken Amos, and with the assistance of other officials such as Tony Martin, Malcolm Edens, and various parents, the Colts section is now in a flourishing state.

Equally significantly, many of these youngsters, encouraged by their experience in the Colts, have gone on to play a part in the success of the Club at senior level and beyond. Roger Hodgkiss, a left-handed opening batsman, scored a century in the final of the Kent inter-district Under 19 championship in 1984, and has since played for Bedfordshire. Mark Dobson, an opening batsman and a slow left-arm spinner, captained Kent junior teams, and then played for the county in 1990 and 1991. He was briefly on the Glamorgan staff in 1992, and continued to play matches for the Beverley during and after his professional career. In 1991, he scored 891 runs for the Pilgrims at an average of 74.3 – one of the outstanding performances in the history of the Club.[14] Martin Keay, David Newton, Richard McCall, Chris Ross and Nick Edens are among the others who have graduated through the Colts, while James Cattell, Stuart Parker (who averaged over 50 for the 2nd. XI in the League in 1993) and David Matthews (who scored two successive centuries for the Sunday 2nd. XI in 1993) are making the transition at the time of writing.

CANTERBURY PILGRIMS v THE PRESIDENT'S XI, 1993

PRESIDENT'S XICANTERBURY PILGRIMS

J.Warnett, lbw Burt............................. 25C.Ross, c Warnett, b Farbrace............. 26

P.Eames, c Ross, b Cocksworth........... 34R.McCall, c M.Ealham, b N.Taylor....... 4

P.Farbrace, c Ross, b Cocksworth.......... 7S.Parrish, c Eames, b N.Taylor.............. 2

A.Ealham, c Ross, b Cocksworth......... 20M.Dobson, c and b Penn..................... 52

C.Taylor, c McCall, b Cocksworth........ 8R.Griffiths, c M.Ealham, b N.Taylor... 14

N.Taylor, c Henderson, b Stevens....... 35D.Clark, c S.Stennett, b Penn................ 4

C.Penn, c Henderson, b Stevens.......... 20T.Gammons, b A.Ealham.................... 27

M.Ealham, not out.............................. 31M.Burt, b Bridger.................................. 0

S.Stennett, c Henderson, b Stevens........ 0G.Cocksworth, not out........................ 14

P.Stennett, M.Bridger did not batP.Henderson, C.Stevens did not bat

Extras............................................... 13Extras............................................... 23

Total (for 8 dec)............................... 193Total (for 8)..................................... 166

It is not easy for a historian to assess the contribution of current players. Time will tell whether there is another William de Chair Baker, Alfred Divers, Bill Parker or Sam Rogers in today's teams. Nonetheless, mention must be made of Grahame Bennett, who was the Club Captain from 1987 to 1989, and again in 1992. For a number of seasons he has been the Club's leading batsman, as well as a highly effective slow bowler. He has been a dominant player, as well as an inspiration to the Colts, and has set the style for others to follow.

Peter Burt had led the Saturday 1st. XI to the position of runners-up in the East Kent League in 1984, but it was not until 1993 that the side were again challenging for the title. In the latter year, a young side – under probably the youngest captain, in Russell Griffiths, since John Baker himself – were at one point joint leaders, and were disappointed to finish in fifth place. The 2nd. XI, again with many youngsters in the side, also finished fifth – one of the Club's best all-round performances so far in league cricket. With a youthful President in Kent batsman Neil Taylor, and with one of the strongest Colts sections in the country, the Club's prospects at present are particularly bright.

It was decided to introduce a new integrated structure to Kent club cricket. Whereas the old Kent League and the East Kent League (as well as the Mid-Kent andLeagues) were separate structures, there would now be promotion and demotion between the various leagues joining the new system. The Club'sposition in the East Kent League earned them a place in .In 1997, the Club camein the league, and thus gained promotion to the new . In 1998, they had an unbeaten season, and won the League, thus gaining a place in the Kent League.1999 name change20002^nd XI under Ben Cooper won their division and gained promotion to

. It is perhaps appropriate, therefore, to end this history of over 150 years of Beverley cricketing achievement with the Club once again among the county's elite, and with the promise of future success very much alive.