Beckenham will host professional cricket in 2015 with Kent County Cricket Club returning to the County Ground to play three matches.

Kent have operated at the County Ground since 2002, but haven’t played a fixture there since 2012. They will make a return to the newly developed ground next season, however.

Kent will play a LV= County Championship match against local rivals Surrey on May 24-27. Beckenham will then host two Friday evening NatWest T20 Blast clashes against Surrey on May 29 and Gloucestershire on June 5.

Jamie Clifford, CEO of Kent CCC, said: “2015 is shaping up to be a landmark year for Kent Cricket.

“Supporters who live and work in London, North and West Kent will have more cricket on their doorstep with a new 2,000-seater stand providing great views of the action and improved hospitality facilities.

“The new facilities at Beckenham will bring through new talent and host top-class games in metropolitan Kent.”

The developments of Beckenham include the construction of an indoor cricket school with five cricket lanes, which can also be used for sports including netball, football and badminton.

Three AstroTurf football pitches, two tennis courts, a basketball court and a gym have also been built and will be made available to the local community.

New offices, physiotherapy treatment rooms, conference and banqueting areas, bars and kitchen facilities, car parking and floodlights complete the reconstruction of the site.

Kent Cricket Captain, Rob Key, believes returning to Beckenham is hugely positive for the county.

“Beckenham has produced some of the best wickets in the country,” he said.

“It’s fantastic to get the chance to come back here and play. We’ve had some fantastic Twenty20 games here with the ball flying through on quick pitches.

“Taking cricket to this part of the county can have huge benefits for Kent in the long-term.”

In particular, Key and Clifford both believe the indoor cricket school will make the nurturing of players in the metropolitan area far easier.

“The key thing for us is developing young, talented players,” Clifford said.

“We’ve already got a very good track record of developing players in the metropolitan part of Kent. This now opens up a whole number of ways that we can improve that.

“Up to now academy players have had to go backwards and forwards to Canterbury and that’s been a limit to developing players. Cutting down the travel players from this end of the county have to make can only be positive and I can really see Beckenham being used regularly to develop young players.”

Kent Cricket’s 2015 schedule will also feature a unique Australian double-header at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.

First, the Australian men prepare for the Ashes with a tour fixture against Kent on June 25-28, and later in the summer Canterbury hosts its first Test match with England v Australia women on August 11-14.

Full details of Kent’s 2015 schedule can be found at www.kentcricket.co.uk.

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