Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

structure of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It represents the historic county of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falcons in reference to the famous

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey ...

which nests on the

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status, to a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of Derby, ...

(it was previously called the Derbyshire Scorpions until 2005 and the Phantoms until 2010). Founded in 1870, the club held first-class status from its first match in 1871 until 1887. Because of poor performances and lack of fixtures in some seasons, Derbyshire then lost its status for seven seasons until it was invited into the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

in 1895. Derbyshire is also classified as a

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

team since the beginning of

limited overs cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twent ...

in 1963; and classified as a senior

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have ...

team since 2003. In recent years the club has enjoyed record attendances with over 24,000 people watching their home Twenty20 fixtures in 2017 – a record for a single campaign. The local derby versus

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

at Chesterfield now regularly sells out in advance. The club is based at the County Cricket Ground, previously known as the Racecourse Ground, in the city of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

. In 2006, for the first time in eight years, county cricket returned to Queen's Park, Chesterfield with a

game against Worcestershire and a one-day league game against Surrey. Other

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

grounds used in the past have included

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Saltergate in Chesterfield,

Heanor Heanor (/ˈhiːnə/) is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. It lies north-east of Derby and forms, with the adjacent village of Loscoe, the civil parish and town council-administered area of Hea ...

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

, Blackwell, Abbeydale Park in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population of 5,038 in the 2011 census was estimated at 5,180 in 2019. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a mar ...

and

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

(3 grounds), which is actually in neighbouring Staffordshire. One-day matches have been played at Darley Dale,

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school ...

Trent College Trent College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Long Eaton, Derbyshire between Nottingham and Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. Founded in 1868 as a local ’middle class alternative’ to the more famous Public school ( ...

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. It is the administrat ...

and Knypersley (also in Staffordshire).

History

Earliest cricket in Derbyshire

Cricket may not have reached Derbyshire until the 18th century. The earliest reference to cricket in the county is a match in September 1757 between Wirksworth and

Sheffield Cricket Club The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...

at Brampton Moor, near Chesterfield.

Origin of club

The formation of Derbyshire County Cricket Club took place on 4 November 1870 at a meeting in the Guildhall, Derby. The Earl of Chesterfield, who had played for and against All-England, was the first President, G. H. Strutt was Vice-President and

Walter Boden Walter Boden (6 August 1837 – 16 September 1905) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire in 1874. Boden was born in St. Peter's, Derby, the son of Henry and Ann Boden. He became a partner in the lace business of Boden and Black. ...

, who had campaigned for the club's foundation for three years, was secretary. Also present at the meeting was Boden's brother, Henry. When Chesterfield died the following year, William Jervis became President. Derbyshire's opening season was 1871 when the club played its initial first-class match ''versus''

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

Old Trafford Cricket Ground Old Trafford is a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club and has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864. From 2013 onwards it has been known as ...

on 26 and 27 May 1871 and joined the (then unofficial) County Championship.

Club history

Although the club had some good results in its early seasons, it struggled for the most part and before the 1888 season, following a run of disastrous results, Derbyshire was demoted from first-class status, which was then based on the number of matches against other teams of similar standing. Derbyshire recovered first-class status in 1894 and rejoined the County Championship in 1895. Although the county then had a quite strong team due to the bowling of George Davidson, Joseph Hulme and

George Porter George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham (6 December 1920 – 31 August 2002) was a British chemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967. Education and early life Porter was born in Stainforth, near Thorne, in the then We ...

and the batting and wicket-keeping of William Storer, William Chatterton and Bagshaw, within three years they had hit rock-bottom, going through 1897 without a win due to their best bowlers losing their powers. From this point up to 1925, Derbyshire were perennially among the weakest counties, losing every single match in 1920 despite the efforts of Sam Cadman and Arthur Morton, persevering professionals. From 1926, the nucleus of a good team emerged around some doughty batting from Denis Smith,

Stan Worthington Thomas Stanley Worthington (21 August 1905 – 31 August 1973) was a cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1923 and 1947 and for England between 1930 and 1937. He was an all-rounder, scoring over 19000 runs and taking over 600 first-class ...

and George Pope. Pope's bowling and that of his brother Alf, leg spinner Tommy Mitchell and seam bowler Bill Copson took the team to their one and so far only Championship victory in 1936. They won 13 of their 28 matches outright and five on first innings. Worthington, Les Townsend, Smith and Alderman all passed 1,000 runs and Copson and Mitchell took over 100 wickets, with Alf Pope taking 94.

Charlie Elliott Charles Standish Elliott MBE (24 April 1912 – 1 January 2004) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1932 and 1953, an international umpire and a part-time footballer. Elliott was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire. ...

, who later became a Test umpire and selector, was another member of this team which was captained by AW Richardson. There have been more downs than ups in post-war years. Though runs came regularly from

Arnold Hamer Arnold Hamer (8 December 1916 – 3 November 1993) was a first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire in 1938, and for Derbyshire between 1950 and 1960, scoring over 15,000 runs in first-class cricket. He also played as a footballer, pla ...

and less consistently from the West Indian Laurie Johnson and captain Donald Carr, the batting remained the weak point right up to the beginning of covered pitches in the 1980s. However, a series of seam bowlers served England as well as Derbyshire. The list began with Copson and continued with

Cliff Gladwin Clifford Gladwin (3 April 1916 – 10 April 1988) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1939 to 1958 and in eight Tests for England from 1947 to 1949. He took over 1,600 first-class wickets. A tall right-arm med ...

, Les Jackson, Harold Rhodes, Alan Ward, Mike Hendrick and, most recently, Devon Malcolm and Dominic Cork. Spin was in short supply apart from the steady work of Edwin Smith and the under-rated all-rounder Geoff Miller, the current national selector of the England team and noted

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. The signing of Eddie Barlow, the famous South African, in 1976 and the lengthy period under the captaincy of Kim Barnett, starting in 1983, meant the side were rarely uncompetitive. Derbyshire were crowned County Championship Division Two champions in 2012 after securing a 6-wicket victory over Hampshire on the final day of the season at the County Ground, as Karl Krikken's side won promotion after securing more wins over the course of the season than Yorkshire who also finished the campaign on 194 points. After the conclusion of the 2013 season, Derbyshire announced a new Elite Cricket Performance model in the next phase of the Club’s quest for sustainable on-field success across all three domestic competitions, combined with the desire to produce England cricketers. Former Derbyshire bowler Graeme Welch was appointed the new Elite Cricket Performance Director in January 2014.

Honours

(1) – 1936 :''Division Two'' (1) – 2012 * Sunday/Pro 40/National League (1) – 1990 * Gillette/NatWest/C&G/Friends Provident Trophy (1) – 1981 *

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

(1) – 1993

Ground history

This following table gives details of every venue at which Derbyshire have hosted a first-class,

match:

Players

Current squad

* No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes players with international caps. * denotes a player who has been awarded a

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

Records

Most first-class runs for Derbyshire
Qualification – 15,000 runs Most first-class wickets for Derbyshire
Qualification – 1,000 wickets Derbyshire recorded their highest ever score, 801 for 8 declared, against Somerset at Taunton in 2007. Their score beat their previous highest ever score of 707 for 7 declared also against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

at Taunton in 2005.

Simon Katich Simon Matthew Katich (born 21 August 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He captained New South Wales and also, until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Katich also played for Lancashire, represen ...

scored 221, Ian Harvey 153, Ant Botha 101 and

James Pipe David James Pipe (born 16 December 1977) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played as a wicket-keeper. Pipe was born at Bradford and made his first-class debut for Worcestershire against Oxford University in May 1998, recordin ...

106. Derbyshire broke the record despite losing Phil Weston and Chris Taylor to

Andy Caddick Andrew Richard Caddick (born 21 November 1968) is a former cricketer who played for England as a fast bowler in Tests and ODIs. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test matc ...

in the first over without a run on the board.

References

External links

Official Derbyshire County Cricket Club websiteCricInfo's Derbyshire section
{{Derby English first-class cricket teams History of Derbyshire Sport in Derby Cricket in Derbyshire Cricket clubs established in 1870 1870 establishments in England