Wrotham’s cricket team is one of the oldest in England, with early reference to matches against Ightham in 1750 and against Bourne in 1766. Originally, we believe, known as Wrotham Cricket Society it became Wrotham (St George’s) Cricket Club around 1794.

18th century records show that Wrotham played a number of matches, including those with East Malling (1788); Lingfield (1789); Hadlow (1789); Barming (1790); Duke of Dorset’s club (1791); Penenden Heath (1792,93,94,98) and West Malling (1798). Wrotham sometimes joined forces with Ightham Cricket Club, for example when playing matches against Sevenoaks (1772) and East Peckham and East Malling (1797).

Between 1792 to 1798 various matches were supported with dinners and ‘ordinaries’ provided by the landlords of The Chequers Inn in Crouch and The Bull in Wrotham. On this theme a June 1846 newspaper report recorded the events of a match held at the Napps with the Rochester and Stroud Union. It sounds like it was a perfect day!

The following year the Wrotham Napps team enjoyed a match at Meopham where their total of 22 all out (of which 12 were byes and wides) compared unfavourably with the home team’s 162 all out.