The Spitfire Ground

Kent v Essex
(County Championship Day 1 of 4)

18th August 2019

Another cricket trip blighted by rain!  

What is it with the fucking weather in this country.  I had amended my original intention to go to a potentially showery Oval, and instead headed east to Canterbury, based upon the BBC forecasting a day of bright sunshine in Kent.

But precious little sunshine did I see when I arrived at The Spitfire Ground.  Grey, overcast and with a decidedly chilly breeze, would be how I would have  described things.  But at least it was dry.

But after 40 minutes or so of play, down came the unforecast rain.  And how.  Not just a pleasant South-of-England Summer shower but full blown monsoon job.  To the extent that, although the rain was over within an hour, it took a further two and half hours of hard work by the ground staff and their squadron of automated mops, blotters and squeegees to get the ground playable.

The problem, we were informed, was the sodden outfield at the Lime Tree Cafe end of the ground.  The very place where the groundstaff had been dumping all the water they had mopped up.  Was I missing something obvious here?  Or were they?

Kent v Essex (August 2019)

First ball of the day - Jamie Porter to Zak Crawley

40 minutes in, and here comes the wet stuff.

There is something I find ever so slightly alluring about bare feet in bad weather.

Mr. Blotter dumps all his water at the Lime Tree Cafe end...
...and wonders why that area of the ground is waterlogged. 

When the clouds decided to move, they did so swiftly.
The first glimpse of blue appeared at 12:52

More by 12:53

Two minutes later.

Then by 13:03, Mr. Blue Sky had arrived.

The Underwood and Knott Stand which, if I read Wikipedia correctly, was built in 1907.

Panorama of The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury.

Kent had toiled to reach 11-1 (Zak Crawley, the man to fall) within 9.1 overs before the heavens had opened.  And, it has to be said, they barely improved much once battle recommenced.  Only Daniel Bell-Drummond succeeded in showing much in the way of resistance, before he was bowled by Mohammed Amir on 55, as Kent creaked their way to a frankly unimpressive 125/6, by the close of play.

Essex bowlers Amir and Sam Cook had set about the Kent batsmen with gusto all day, taking three wickets each by the end of play.  As for the home lads, five of the six dismissed had failed to reach double figures.

I had watched  a day of a county cricket match at Northants some years back where all ten dismissals were catches.  And I noted here that none of the six were catches.  Why such a thing can happen, I have no idea.  

This was Daniel Bell-Drummond hitting one of his seven boundaries

Heino Kuhn - Kent CCC

Essex''s Sam Cook.
"Give us a song, then" some wag shouted when he was introduced.

I am fairly sure this is Kent's Ollie Robinson getting himself into a tangle here.
He made a creditable 35, before becoming another of Mohammed Amir's victims.

At the end of the day Kent's Darren Stevens (R) looks pleased with his contribution.

The view from inside The Frank Woolley Stand.

This match took place during Canterbury Cricket Week, the festival opening and closing with a brace of T20 Vitality Blast ties.

The festival has, I learned, been taking place in the town since 1842, and as additional associated attractions this afternoon we had a jazz band, face painting and a bouncy castle for the kiddies, and an appearance by the Golf Open Claret Jug.  Not that I indulged in any of these.

I did, purely in the interests of sociability, you understand, partake of a modicum of Spitfire Lager (the Official Beer of Kent Cricket, you know).  And I have to say it went down rather smoothly. 

The replacement lime tree - the original having blown down in 2005

The brush I can understand, but the vaulting pole?

From under the lime tree

The Frank Woolley Stand was erected in 1927,
and named for a former player who played  for the club for over thirty years .

Inside The Frank Woolley Stand.

The view from The Frank Woolley Stand.

There is something pleasingly reassuring about hearing the clacking as the
numbers are changed on the manual scoreboard.

Update: Kent's batting improved on day 2 and, bouyed by an unbeaten half-century by Harry Podmore, the home side reached a respectable first innings total of 226.  A total which looked more than respectable after they bowled Essex out for just 114.

But then Kent somehow contrived to get themselves dismissed for 40 in their second innings (how the hell does that happen?), leaving Essex the modest target of 153 to win.  

Which they achieved on Day Three, to win by three wickets.