Fans of Kent Cricket’s patient wait for the upcoming season’s fixtures is finally over and they can now start planning their trips to Canterbury and Beckenham.
After months of waiting, the fixtures were released on Thursday afternoon.
Kent Men will start the 2022 season in Chelmsford with a ‘Battle of the Bridge’ four-day contest against Essex starting on Thursday 7 April, as Kent Cricket returns to Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The Club’s opening match at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury will be the visit of Lancashire starting on Thursday 14 April in another County Championship showdown. This will be the first of seven home first-class matches in 2022, spanning April to September.
May 2022 will see the return of Championship cricket to The County Ground, Beckenham after two Summers away, as Kent welcome oldest rivals Surrey to Metropolitan Kent from Thursday 12 May.
Kent will play a total of five Championship matches across June & July, two more than compared with 2021, and placing the County Championship back in the height of Summer – the 170th Canterbury Cricket Week will fall between Monday 11 & Thursday 14 July with the visit of Northamptonshire to The Spitfire Ground.
Canterbury will also play host to the visit of South Africa for a four-day tour match, as they continue their preparations for a Test series against England. The visitors will compete against a team comprised of the brightest homegrown talents in county cricket, a First-Class Counties Select XI, from Tuesday 9 August.
In the white-ball game, a repeat of the 2021 Vitality Blast Final will see Somerset head to ‘Fortress Canterbury’ to face title holders, the Kent Spitfires, on 25 May – the opening match of the 20th edition of England’s premier domestic T20 competition.
The reigning champions will then welcome rivals Essex Eagles to The Spitfire Ground for a Friday-night showdown, in front of a projected sell-out crowd on Friday 27 May, with the Frank Woolley Stand expected to be open once more after renovation work is completed.
Additional visits of Surrey on Bank Holiday Friday 3 June and of Sussex Sharks on Friday 24 June make for an exciting calendar of Friday night rivalry matches across Kent Spitfires’ 2022 T20 calendar.
The Royal London Cup will take priority for Kent across the month of August this coming season, with the Spitfires’ first home match against Hampshire taking place at The County Ground, Beckenham, and the visits of Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Yorkshire Vikings and Lancashire to The Spitfire Ground across a ten-day period. Fan-favourite Matt Henry will be available across all of Kent Spitfires’ matches in the 2022 Royal London Cup.
The Spitfires will also prepare for the Royal London Cup with a long-awaited one-day National County match against Suffolk on Sunday 31 July, after COVID scuppered any chances of the fixture in 2020 & 2021.
Kent Cricket’s CEO, Simon Storey, said: “The tangible excitement that comes with the announcement of fixtures means that the season will soon be upon us with a busy schedule spanning six busy months.
“Kent Members will have access to at least 43 days of cricket across all formats – this demonstrates real value for money in becoming a Kent Member for 2022 and we’re delighted to be welcoming back our Members this Summer.
“Despite concerns of COVID, we are determined to fully re-open The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence and The County Ground, Beckenham in 2022.We’re excited to be bringing premier white and red-ball cricket back to Metropolitan Kent this season, now with five days of Men’s First XI cricket at Beckenham as opposed to four in 2021.
“Unfortunately this year it hasn’t been possible to return to the picturesque Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells. Despite the improving picture with COVID-19, we still are required to put in place operational plans to cover all eventualities.
“With this in mind, it’s not possible to move a complex first-class cricket operation to support out-ground cricket at a third venue. We have a close working relationship with Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club, and hope to return to The Nevill in 2023.”
Kent’s Men’s Head Coach, Matt Walker, said: “There’s a real sense of excitement amongst the playing group that we can build on the successes of 2021 in this new season.
“Whilst we performed at the level we set ourselves in T20 cricket last year, a lot of work has been put in over the Winter months to continue to improve across all formats of the game. Our performances in the divisional stage of last season’s Championship show we’re a side able to compete for honours, and this season is when we look to hit the ground running in three forms of the game.
“We’re all looking forward to welcoming Kent’s passionate fans back to see their county’s top-tier professional sports team in 2022.”
Early Bird discounts on all 2022 Kent Cricket Memberships and ticket bundles will expire at 17:00 on Monday 31 January.
The full fixture list can be found here: