century. The earliest known featuring a side using the name was a 1734 match against a Gentlemen of Sussex side at Sevenoaks Vine. The side was closely associated with the county side and had strong links to other amateur sides, including I Zingari and Band of Brothers, both of which would host tents during Canterbury Week, as well as to Old Stagers, an amateur drama group which performed during Canterbury Week. Kent Cricket Academy Kent established an academy in 2003 with the aim of developing future first-class cricketers. The academy is based at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury and makes use of the Ames-Levett Sports Centre at the ground. It has produced over 25 first-term players for the county, including current club captain Sam Northeast and senior England internationals Tammy Beaumont, Sam Billings, Joe Denly, Natasha Farrant, Lydia Greenway and Jo Watts. The leading academy scholar is awarded the John Aitken Gray trophy each year. Past winners have included county First XI players Daniel Bell-Drummond, Alex Blake and Ollie Robinson. The academy was established by former wicket-keeper Simon Willis. Paul Farbrace and Philip Relf held lead coaching roles within the scheme until Willis was appointed as high performance director in 2011, serving in the role until May 2016 when he was appointed the high performance manager of Sri Lanka Cricket. Former Kent and England spin bowler Min Patel took over the running of the academy on an interim basis following Willis' departure before becoming Second XI coach in January 2017, with former Shropshire wicket-keeper Jason Weaver taking over the role as high performance director, the two jobs replacing Willis' former role. When Weaver left the club in 2019, Patel took over the role, becoming the club's Head of Talent Pathway and working alongside former women's coach Mark Dekker. Honours Kent have won the County Championship seven times, including one shared title. Four of their wins came in the years before World War I between 1906 and 1913, Ted Dillon captaining the side to three of their titles. The county had to wait until the 1970s to win their other Championship titles, winning outright in 1970 and 1978 and sharing the title with Middlesex in 1977. Kent have finished as runner-up in the Championship on 12 occasions, most recently in 2004. The County Championship Second Division title was won by the county in 2009. The county First XI has also