Chief Executive Simon Storey says Derbyshire must focus on Chesterfield as an out-ground in the core summer months only after poor weather resulted in no play versus Kent this week.
Storey was speaking after the final day of the Specsavers County Championship match at Queen’s Park was abandoned on Friday morning.
Storey said: “We are all desperately disappointed for the Members, spectators and players that we haven’t been able to get a game on at Queen’s Park.
“The grounds team did everything within their power to try and get the game on, but the heavy rain on Monday, and then again on Thursday, created risks associated with a wet outfield that have prevented us from playing.”
ECB protocol dictates that pitch preparation at out-grounds is monitored closely and in the run up to the latest fixture at Chesterfield two separate visits by pitch inspectors gave the ground the all-clear.
However, a downpour on Monday night prior to the game left the ground extremely wet when the players and officials arrived on Tuesday morning. With the heavy dews and then extra rain on Thursday, which also forced the abandonment of the ODI at Trent Bridge, there was no opportunity to get the game played.
Storey added: “We moved the fixture to Chesterfield to reduce the risk of the weather intervening at The 3aaa County Ground, Derby, after the Boyzone concert. The decision was taken with the best intentions to protect the scheduled game of cricket against Kent and still allow us to raise the funds required to sustain the Club financially.
“It was agreed that even if it had rained heavily in Derby during the concert, we would have been able to still get the game on at Queen’s Park. Unfortunately, it was a run of poor weather in the Chesterfield area in the build-up to the fixture that hit us hard and made certain areas unplayable.
“Chesterfield Borough Council carried out significant work on the drainage in Queen’s Park over the winter and invested heavily in the ground.
“This investment was rewarded with a hugely successful summer in 2017 with Queen’s Park hosting two ICC Women’s World Cup warm-up matches, an England under-19s Test match and Derbyshire’s annual festival, including a first-class match versus Durham and a sell-out NatWest T20 Blast clash against Yorkshire Vikings.
“We remain committed to bringing first-class cricket to Chesterfield and will continue to support Chesterfield Cricket Club and Chesterfield Borough Council in their work.
“The feedback from earlier this season at Chesterfield shows that Queen’s Park can be a great venue for first-class cricket, but the weather risks are clearly higher at the beginning and the end of the summer season.
“We will learn from this moving forward; to minimise the risk of weather intervening, we will focus on Chesterfield as an out-ground only in the core summer months of June, July and August.”
