[8][9] Selby and Norton organised a series of matches between Town Malling sides and county teams or ones selected by MCC as England XIs.

A total of 11 matches took place between 1836 and 1841, ten of which were given retrospective first-class cricket status and are considered to have been played by a Kent team.

Pilch moved to the new Kent club to play as well as to manage the Beverley Ground and run the Saracen's Head inn in the city as well.

Several players were critical of the ground – Francis MacKinnon complained of having to change in an oast house, with access via a stepladder, while William Patterson found "neither the gate nor the accommodation satisfactory".

The ground is reputed to be the inspiration for Dickens' portrayal of a cricket match between All Muggleton and Dingley Dell in The Pickwick Papers.

[14] At the time scores were shown in the window of an oast house on the side of the ground and it was used for other outdoor events in the town.

[7] A new pavilion was opened by Kent cricketer Richard Ellison in 1992[7] and the lease was extended for another 100 years in 2016 after the ground had been purchased by West Malling Parish Council in 1994.