T20 in numbers: A record-breaking 2017

Eight wins, a home quarter-final and record crowds. It was a memorable 2017 Blast. We look at the numbers behind the record-breaking campaign.

The Falcons entered the 2017 campaign with renewed optimism under the stewardship of Derbyshire and New Zealand legend, John Wright – who will be back to lead the side again in 2018.

Winter recruitment had seen the capture of then world number one Twenty20 bowler, Imran Tahir, and New Zealand bowling all-rounder, Matt Henry, to strengthen the attack alongside Hardus Viljoen who had signed a three-year deal with the Club.

While Ireland international Gary Wilson, also a new addition to the squad in 2017, was named Captain to lead Derbyshire into a new era in the shortest format.

Eight group wins later, and the Falcons had secured a home quarter-final, the county’s first ever in the format. It  was Derbyshire’s 26th quarter-final in limited overs matches, and their first in the shortest form of the game since 2005 when they finished second in the North Group.

Their huge improvement in Twenty20 cricket was evidenced by several record-breaking performances;

• Eight wins for Derbyshire in 2017 was the most ever for the county in a single Twenty20 campaign
• Wayne Madsen scored 522 runs – the most ever for Derbyshire and in doing so became the first Derbyshire player to pass 500 runs in a season
• Wayne Madsen and Luis Reece both scored four half centuries – no player had previously managed more than three – and Madsen’s were scored consecutively
• Billy Godleman hit Derbyshire’s 500th six in Twenty20 cricket against Yorkshire at Leeds
• Imran Tahir’s 17 wickets were the most in a season for Derbyshire beating Tim Groenewald’s previous record of 16 in 2010
• Derbyshire hit 23 sixes in the two games against Nottinghamshire and still ended up losing both matches
• Alex Hughes took 10 outfield catches – only Greg Smith with 11 in 2009 has ever taken more
• Daryn Smit’s nine dismissals behind the wicket has only been bettered once, by Tom Poynton (10) in 2013
• Over 24,000 people watched Twenty20 fixtures in Derbyshire in 2017 – a record for a single campaign
• Local derby versus Yorkshire at Chesterfield sold out five days before the fixture – the earliest a Derbyshire home Twenty20 fixture had ever sold out

Vitality Blast is back! Derbyshire Falcons host seven Twenty20 games this July and August. Purchase your tickets in advance and save from £4. Buy online or call 01332 388 101.

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