Kent county cricket teams matches at Town Malling between 1836 and 1841. The expense of running county games meant that Town Malling proved too small to support a county club, despite the large attendances that games attracted, and in 1842 Pilch moved to the Beverley club at Canterbury. Kent struggled against the prominence of Sussex in the early roundarm years but then enjoyed a glorious period in the middle of the century. Rowland Bowen has recorded that a Maidstone newspaper in 1837 described a match between Kent and Nottinghamshire as for the County Championship. This is the earliest known use of the term although
Old County Ground a Kent side in 1836, attracting up to 6,000 spectators. Pilch played for Town Malling in this match but otherwise played in the Kent side, having qualified by residence, including the three against England sides. The first of these was a benefit match for Pilch and saw Kent defeat England by two runs. Despite Selby and Norton's ambitions, Town Malling proved to be too small to support a formally organised county club and Kent County Cricket Club was formed from the Beverley club in Canterbury during the 1842 Canterbury Cricket Week. Pilch moved to the new Kent club to play