Derbyshire continue their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign with their first limited overs match of the season at The 3aaa County Ground, Derby.
Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks at the statistical background to the game.
The last time Derbyshire played against another county in a List A game was on 16 May 2017 when Worcestershire were the visitors to Derby. The one year and seven days between that game and the fixture with Durham is, by some distance, the longest gap between home List A games in Derbyshire’s history.
Derbyshire did play a tour match against South Africa A on 29th May 2017, but even the gap between that date and the Durham fixture is a record.
There have been 38 scheduled games in List A cricket between Derbyshire and Durham, with Derbyshire triumphing on 15 occasions, Durham 21, with two abandonments or no results.
The two counties met at Derby in the first round of the NatWest Trophy in 1985 when Durham was still a Minor County, and they caused a shock upset when they defeated the hosts by seven wickets.
Derbyshire’s side included Kim Barnett and John Morris, plus a high-quality bowling unit including Michael Holding, Ole Mortensen, Allan Warner, Paul Newman and Geoff Miller, but were comfortably beaten by their hugely motivated visitors. Seven years later, Durham would be granted first class status.
Derbyshire made their highest team score in the televised Benson and Hedges group game at Jesmond in 1992, reaching 281-9 in their 55 overs, with John Morris hitting a brutal 121 including four sixes – three of them out of the ground – and 11 fours. Derbyshire won by 80 runs with Dominic Cork taking 4-26.
Cork recorded Derbyshire’s best bowling figures against Durham, taking 5-45 in a NatWest Trophy game at Feethams, Darlington 1994. Chasing 280 to win, Derbyshire reached their target with four wickets in hand, as Tim O’Gorman (89) and Mohammad Azharuddin (74 not out) saw Derbyshire home.
Other century makers for Derbyshire include Chris Adams (100 not out) at Chesterfield in 1996, Chris Taylor (111 not out) at Derby in 2006, and Ben Slater (119) in Derbyshire’s last List A win over Durham, at Derby in 2016.
However, possibly the most dramatic century came in 2000 at Derby when Matt Cassar – in his final innings for Derbyshire – made a superb 126 opening the batting – only to see his side lose by just one run off the very last ball of the season.
Royal London One-Day Cup is back at The 3aaa County Ground! Derbyshire will host four 50-over fixtures in May and June. Buy your match tickets in advance & save.
Derbyshire vs Durham – Wednesday 23 May
Derbyshire vs Leicestershire Foxes – Friday 25 May
Derbyshire vs Yorkshire Vikings – Wednesday 30 May
Derbyshire vs Lancashire Lightning – Sunday 3 June
