Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1887 was the

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 striki ...

season when the English club

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 nor ...

had been playing for sixteen years and was the last season before they lost first class status for seven years.

1887 season

Derbyshire played two county matches each against

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

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

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and one against MCC. They lost all these matches and as a result Wisden decided not to accord them first class status in the following year. However they also played three non first class matches against Essex and Leicestershire and won all three. The captain for the year was

William Chatterton William Chatterton (27 December 1861 – 19 March 1913) was an English cricketer and footballer. He played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1902 and for England on their tour of South Africa in 1891–92. He captained Derby ...

who also played for MCC during the season. The top scorer was George Davidson who also took most wickets. LongEatonRecGroundCyclists

During the season Derbyshire played their first home fixture away from the County Ground, when they played Lancashire at the Recreation Ground, Long Eaton. This was the only occasion on which they used the venue. Two important players made their debut in the season whose performance came to the fore once Derbyshire regained first-class status. They were John Hulme who took over 550 wickets for Derbyshre and Bill Storer who was one of the club's long-serving wicket-keepers.

Harry Bagshaw Harry Bagshaw (1 September 1859 – 31 January 1927), christened Henry Bagshaw, was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1887 and 1902 and was also a cricket umpire. Bagshaw was born at Foolow, Derbyshire, ...

who also made his debut gave the club many years service. Other players who made their debut were George Ratcliffe, Joseph Marshall, Henry Street and

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

. None of these had the chance to play first class cricket for Derbyshire again although some appeared occasionally for the club in the intervening years. A number of players appeared for Derbyshire for the last time this season. These included

Edmund Maynard Edmund Anthony Jefferson Maynard (10 February 1861 – 10 January 1931) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1880 to 1887 and captained the side for two seasons. Maynard was the son of Edmund Gilling Maynard, of West House, ...

a former captain and

George Barrington George Barrington (14 May 1755 – 27 December 1804) (real name Walden) was an Irish-born pickpocket, popular London socialite, Australian pioneer (following his transportation to Botany Bay), and author. His escapades, arrests, and trials we ...

who had both joined in 1880. Also departing were Henry Slater who had been a member of the side since 1882 and

Edwin Coup Edwin Coup (9 June 1861 – 2 July 1892), also known as Edwin Coupe, was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire County Cricket Club between 1885 and 1887. Coup was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, the son of John Coupe a building contractor ...

who had joined the club in 1885. In addition

Thomas Mycroft Thomas Mycroft (28 March 1848 — 31 August 1911) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire and MCC between 1877 and 1887. Mycroft was born in Brimington, Derbyshire, the son of George Mycroft and his second wife Elizabeth Lowcock. ...

a stand-in wicket-keeper who had made occasional appearances since 1877 played his last game. Several cricketers continued playing for Derbyshire but had stopped playing by the time the club reached first class status again in 1894. These were

James Disney James Joseph Disney (20 November 1859 – 24 June 1934) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire as wicket-keeper between 1881 and 1890. Disney was born in Butterley near Ripley, Derbyshire and became a plumber as ...

wicket-keeper since 1881, George Ratcliffe, Joseph Marshall,

, three of the players who made their debut in 1887 and

William Cropper William Cropper (27 December 1862 – 13 January 1889) was an English cricketer and footballer who played cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club between 1882 and 1888 and football, as a centre forward, once for Derby County. He was one of ...

who died in 1889 as a result of an unfortunate football accident.

Matches

Statistics

First-class batting averages

Chatterton also played five matches for MCC during the season. (a) Figures recalculated to exclude non Derbyshire matches

First-class bowling averages

(a) Figures recalculated to exclude non Derbyshire matches

Wicket keeping

Catches 12 Stumping 1

References

{{Derbyshire CCC 1887 in English cricket Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons English cricket seasons in the 19th century