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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. 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 nor ...

. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falcons in reference to the famous peregrine falcon 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 team since the beginning of limited overs cricket 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 inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

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 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 ...

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 g ...

. In 2006, for the first time in eight years, county cricket returned to

Queen's Park, Chesterfield Queen's Park is a county cricket ground located in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England and lies within a park in the centre of the town established for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887. It has a small pavilion and is surrounded by matur ...

with a

game against Worcestershire and a one-day league game against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. 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 officiall ...

grounds used in the past have included Buxton, Saltergate in Chesterfield, Heanor, Ilkeston, Blackwell,

Abbeydale Park Abbeydale Park is a sports venue in Dore, South Yorkshire, England. It is unusual in having hosted home games for two different county cricket teams. History The Park first opened for cricket in 1921, with the first pavilion being completed t ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, Wirksworth 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 ...

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

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

, Leek, Staffordshire 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 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 Earl of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also ...

, who had played for and against All-England, was the first President, G. H. Strutt was Vice-President and Walter Boden, 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 county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

at Old Trafford Cricket Ground 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 and the batting and wicket-keeping of

William Storer William Storer (25 January 1867 – 28 February 1912) was an English footballer and a cricketer who played six Tests from 1897 to 1899, played first-class cricket for Derbyshire from 1887 to 1905 and played football for Derby County. He score ...

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 Der ...

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 Thomas Bignall Mitchell (4 September 1902 – 27 January 1996) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1928 and 1939. A leg spin bowler, he was the most successful slow bowler in the history of a county bette ...

and seam bowler

Bill Copson William Henry Copson (27 April 1908 – 14 September 1971) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1950, and for England between 1939 and 1947. He took over 1,000 wickets for Derbyshire, and was pr ...

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 Leslie Hyde Townsend (born 4 October 1914 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; died 30 January 1986) was an Australian Test Cricket Umpires, Australian cricket Test match umpire. He umpired one Test cricket, Test match between Australian cri ...

, 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, play ...

and less consistently from the West Indian

Laurie Johnson Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson, (born 7 February 1927) is an English composer and bandleader who has written scores for dozens of film and television series and has been one of the most highly regarded arrangers of instrumental pop and swing ...

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 Michael Hendrick (22 October 1948 – 26 July 2021) was an English cricketer, who played in thirty Tests and twenty-two One Day Internationals for England from 1973 to 1981. He played for Derbyshire from 1969 to 1981, and for Nottinghamshire f ...

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. 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 Graeme Welch (born 21 March 1972) is a former English cricket player and coach born in Durham. He played for two county teams, Derbyshire and Warwickshire. Graeme Welch was appointed captain of Derbyshire for the 2006 season following the depa ...

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, List A or

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.

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 Ian Joseph Harvey (born 10 April 1972) is a former Australian cricketer. He was an all-rounder who played 73 One Day Internationals for Australia and was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004 for his performances in ...

153,

Ant Botha Anthony Greyvensteyn Botha (born 17 November 1976) is a South African former cricketer who played for the cricket Natal, KwaZulu-Natal, Easterns, Derbyshire and Warwickshire.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 ma ...

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