ground: the Union Jack, the rampant White Horse of Kent, the famous old buff and blue of politics, the gorgeous red, black and gold of I Zingari, the sombre black and blue of Kent’s Band of Brothers, the scarlet and black of The Knickerbockers, the ever-popular red and gold of MCC, the dark blue of Oxford, the light blue of Cambridge, the blue and yellow of the RA and of the banners covering the house fronts in the High Street. Amidst all the high society, pageantry and tradition, William Gilbert Grace was the principal attraction, illuminating the festival year in and year out. The colour, the music and the country balls continued to delight but in 1876 The Champion surpassed himself. He had failed in his opening innings of the Week, scoring only nine on the holiday Monday for Kent and Gloucestershire, who combined to meet the Rest of England from 1874 to 1876. The fixture replaced North v South and Gloucestershire was only included so WG could play. England took the field a man short and their young captain AJ Webbe was advised by Alfred Shaw to place a man between slip and third man to cover both positions. Shaw went there himself and there was great amusement when Grace sliced a ball from Tom Emmett straight to him. Their glee was not shared by WG, who marched off chuntering: “He was in no position at all.” There was another moment of humour when the august figure of Lord Harris walked out to the middle and the scoreboard operator inadvertently left out the first letter of his surname. The holiday crowd, many of whom had been drinking, howled its delight at ‘Arris until the mistake was corrected. WG atoned for his first innings’ failure with 91and he switched sides for the following game when he represented MCC in a 12-a-side fixture against Kent. On Friday evening MCC followed on 329 behind. “Everyone believed that the match was now a hopeless thing for the old club,” said WG. “I was exceedingly anxious to get off that night, so that I might reach Clifton next day and have a quiet Sunday’s rest before meeting Nottinghamshire on the Monday. It was no use trying to play carefully so I made up my mind to hit. I risked a little more than usual, helped myself more freely than I would have done under different circumstances, and everything came off.” When play ended at 6.45pm with MCC 217 for four, he was still there on 133. On a very hot Saturday he established a new record for an individual innings, his 344 leaving WilliamWard’s 278 of 56 years earlier in the shade, before he caught the train to Bristol on Sunday. Grace followed this with 177 against Notts and 318 not out against Yorkshire at Cheltenham - 839 runs in eight days. The story goes that the downhearted Nottinghamshire side changed trains at Birmingham on the journey home. They met the Cheltenham-bound Yorkshire team on the station and were teased unmercifully about Grace. The White Rose smiles soon faded. Canterbury’s St Lawrence ground, with its famous lime tree, is one of the first to have had boundaries, a move made necessary by the tents which surrounded the playing area. Through all the cricketing and Bank Holiday changes its gaiety and colour remained largely unchanged. In 1998, Matthew Fleming, Kent’s captain from 1999 to 2002, wrote in his Daily Telegraph column about the 147th Festival Week. “The 20 marquees are full to brimming. The High Sheriff, the President, the Buffs, the Conservative Club and the Lord Mayor all have marquees. The cricket, whilst keenly contested, knows its place and plays second fiddle to the ladies’ hat competition, the clinking of ice, the groaning tables, polite applause and, as the day draws on, the odd nodding head and resonant snore. The Kent and Hampshire batsmen do their level best but their presence is temporary. The Festival Week is permanent.” Canterbury Week 25