Bad News for Kent fans

[Andy Mellon]

Well, my favourite county cricket ground has suffered a disaster! The tree on the Canterbury outfield has been blown down by the recent gales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4160973.stm

I always loved the fact that cricket grounds could be so different from one to another. Could you imagine a tree being located near the corner flag on a professional football pitch? Its these sort of things that add to the quirky nature of the game of cricket.

The good news is that due to the fact the tree has been suffering for the past 4 years, a replacement was planted 4 years ago, so there should still be the tradition of the tree in the future. It is thought that the remains of the old tree could be made into mementos for Kent fans.

[Paoli]

County News - Kent

Lime tree at Canterbury reduced to a stump
Cricinfo staff
January 11, 2005

The famous lime tree at Canterbury's St Lawrence ground has been toppled by high winds over the weekend. It was one of English cricket's landmarks, and managed to survive the hurricane of 1987. But after swirling gales lashed Kent, only a seven-foot stump now remains.
The 60-feet high tree, which is inside the boundary rope, was at Canterbury even before the ground staged its first first-class match in 1847. It had been poorly for a few years although it had been expected to last a little while longer.

In the past, all hits which touched the tree counted as four runs, no matter how high they hit. Only three players were officially recognised to have hit a six over the tree. West Indies batsman Sir Learie Constantine cleared the branches against Kent (although there is dispute over whether the match took place in 1928 or 1933); Middlesex's slogger Jim Smith smacked the ball over the top in 1939 during an innings which contained six other sixes; and in 1992 Carl Hooper did so on his Kent debut against Durham.

"It's been in intensive care for several years and we planted a substitute about four years ago in anticipation of this sad day," Paul Millman, Kent's chief executive, told BBC Kent. "There's the debate about tradition versus the future, but I know many people will be keen to see tradition upheld. This tree is more than 200 years old and I think one has to bear in mind that past. I think most people would want the tree replaced."

© Cricinfo


I won't say it is a sad moment with all the other stuff going on in the world, rather a quite unfortunate moment. I will never forget watching County Cricket games on TV and wondering what in the world that tree was doing there. It will be sorely missed by the all Canterbury citizens and will be a notable exclusion from the Kent Cricket Ground

[Pete]

Load of old rubbish that tree was, it's ridiculous to have a tree like that on a cricket field.

[Paoli]

It was tradition. Although the ground isn't used a heck of alot, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, there is a similar tree in the outfield. Takes you back to the days of backyard cricket. Keeping with the theme of Backyard Cricket, was it by any chance one hand off the tree!!!

[Moss]

I agree that in the scehme of things it ain't that important, but I loved seeing matches there with the tree in the background, and as Paoli said, it's tradition.

Cricket and tradition go hand in hand.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Moss

as Paoli said, it's tradition.

Not practical though Games could have been won and lost on that tree.. 4 instead of 6 if you hit the tree and all that.

[Moss]

True, but it's one of those idiosyncratic things that makes me love English cricket. Only in England could we have a lime tree dictating the score in a match!
Having said that, whilst in Ireland visiting a friend's family, she told us the story of the so called magic tree, where they diverted a whole trunk road (excuse the pun!) at the extra cost of several hundred thousand euro, so that the magic tree could be preserved.
We drove past it, and the road literally went from a straight line, to a big unnecessary curve round this tree, then back in a straight line!
When we next visited, someone had set fire to the tree in protest.

So, only in England and Ireland then!