Nikki Richardson looks back on the history of the town’s famous cricket ground.
Most people in Sevenoaks know that the Vine is one of the oldest cricket grounds in England, but how many know that a team from Sevenoaks was recorded playing ‘London’ at Kennington in 1731, and that the earliest reference to cricket in the area goes back to 1610?
Sevenoaks has played an important part in the development of cricket, and the Vine is one of cricket’s ancestral homes.
Its
earliest recorded use was a match on 6 September 1734, between the
Gentlemen of Kent and the Gentlemen of Sussex, reported in the London
Evening Post. Kent won. King George II was on the throne, and the year
also saw the birth of the American frontiersman Daniel Boone and the
death of Rob Roy MacGregor. Even then, the origins of cricket were lost
in the mists of time.
The game seems to have evolved from
competitions between Kent shepherds. One defended the ‘wicket’, the
entry to a sheep pen, with his crook held like a hockey stick; the
other bowled a ball underarm to knock down the ‘bail’, a bar balanced
across the gap.
For centuries a cricket bat was curved and the
wicket consisted of just two stumps, topped with a single bail. A third
stump was added in 1775, following a Hambledon vs England match at the
Artillery Ground in London, when deadly Sevenoaks and England bowler
Edward ‘Lumpy’ Stevens put several balls through the wicket without
dislodging the bail.
These Georgian cricket matches were major
sporting events, attracting big crowds, and huge sums were offered as
prizes. In July 1782, for example, the Duke of Dorset’s XI played All
England on the Vine for one thousand guineas.
The Vine ground
probably earned its name as a vineyard owned by the archbishops of
Canterbury. It was given to the town in 1773, by the owner of Knole
House, John Fredrick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. For many years
Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club paid the town council a genuine ‘peppercorn
rent’ (actually two) – one peppercorn for the ground and another for
the pavilion, while the town council paid Lord Sackville one cricket
ball on the 21st July. Sadly, today things are on a slightly more
conventional footing.
The Vine is not only home to SVCC, but a
thriving hockey club and, of course, the Seven Oaks. The original trees
were planted to mark the coronation of Edward VII, but six were blown
down in the hurricane of 1987. Jokes about living in ‘One Oak’ wore
thin, and the council quickly planted seven new oaks – so we now have
one old oak and seven young ones at the heart of our town.
Sevenoaks
Vine Cricket Club is very aware of the importance of its beautiful home
ground to the community. A new group, ‘Friends of the Vine’, has been
established to involve local residents in social events and to help
maintain and improve the club’s facilities.
One of the most
popular events in the calendar, Vine Cricket Week, takes place every
July, hosting teams from far and wide. Lumpy Stevens may have long
gone, but modern cricketing giants like former England players Chris
Tavaré, Mark Benson and Paul Downton, are all Vine members.
At
273 years not out, SVCC is thriving, with the first eleven playing in
the Kent Premier League. The club runs four Saturday sides in various
Kent leagues, plus ‘Jazzers’ and ‘Old Oaks’ teams catering to
youngsters and past ‘masters’. It also has a successful junior section
which nurtures young talent.
