IN DEPTH: My Favourite Innings, by David Griffin - Part One

In the first of a two-part series, Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks back the Derbyshire innings which have shaped his life follwing the Club, starting with the best of the 21st century. 

When I was asked to select my ten favourite innings by a Derbyshire player my initial reaction was to start a chronological list in my head beginning in the mid-1970s. By the time I reached the 1980s I already had about fifty contenders so I went back to square one and decided to adopt a different approach.

I decided upon just two criteria; firstly, I have only considered centuries, and secondly, rather than looking at the usual ways of assessing an innings – the match situation, the skills on display, the quality of the opposition, the match result – I have chosen those innings which simply thrilled or satisfied me; innings which were simply enjoyable.

So, here are my favourite ten hundreds, from number 10 to one, with the only other criterion that no player is included more than once. We start with the most recent and move backwards, with part one covering the 21st century and part two going as far back as 1976!

10 Anuj Dal 115 v Somerset at Derby 2024 – Metro Bank One Day Cup

Anuj Dal has scored five first class hundreds batting in the number seven position in the batting order; more than anyone else for Derbyshire.

He was also batting at number seven when he scored 115 against Somerset at Taunton in a Metro Bank One Day Cup game in 2024, having made 110 against the same opposition in the same competition at Derby a year earlier, also batting at seven.

The game at Taunton saw the hosts post a formidable 316 for five leaving Derbyshire to make what would be their highest successful one day run chase.

Derbyshire began their reply with Luis Reece looking in particularly good form as, with Harry Came, he added 60 for the first wicket in ten overs. Although David Lloyd held firm, going on to make 71, Derbyshire slumped to 90 for five with 317 looking further and further away as each of those five wickets fell.

With two England Test bowlers in their attack, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir, Somerset were clear favourites as Lloyd and Dal began to rebuild.

Lloyd was steady and controlled, but Dal was simply explosive. Producing a range of shots all around the ground, the Somerset attack looked powerless to halt the flow of runs which included 10 fours and two huge sixes. The running between the wickets was quick and incisive and when Dal reached three figures his runs had come from a barely believable 69 balls.

Derbyshire’s quickest hundreds had hitherto all been scored by top order batters – Wayne Madsen, Wes Durston, Chris Adams, John Morris, Adrian Rollins – but never by a player batting outside the top four, and none of them had been more important than this one.

From a perilous 90 for five, Dal steered his side to within 12 runs of victory  before a wonderful cameo from teenager Harry Moore saw Derbyshire home.

But it was Dal’s day with superlative batting fit to rank with the best of Derbyshire’s one day innings.

9 Wayne Madsen 100 v Durham at Derby 2022 – T20

Wayne Madsen had already scored 40 all format hundreds for Derbyshire before he made one in T20 cricket.

A latecomer to the shortest form of the game, Madsen had been prolific in first class cricket for almost a decade but emerged in 2017 as a high class T20 cricketer, capable of fast and consistent scoring. He is the leading run-scorer for Derbyshire in T20 matches and the county’s outstanding player in this form of the game.

When Durham scored a challenging 193 for five on a sun-kissed Sunday afternoon at Derby in front of a capacity crowd, it was apparent that Derbyshire would have to bat well to win the game. Indeed, their subsequent 194 for five set a new record for the highest successful run chase by Derbyshire in T20 cricket.

The architect of the success was Madsen who made an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls with 11 fours and three sixes, the fastest hundred in any form of the game for Derbyshire, beating Wes Durston’s 51-ball ton against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2010. Subsequently, Tom Wood would also make a 51-ball hundred against Leicestershire at Derby in 2023. Both of these 51-ball centuries also came in T20 matches.

Always inventive, regardless of the game, Madsen was at his best in this innings, scampering quick singles, driving imperiously through the offside, reverse-sweeping to the boundary, ramping the quick bowlers over the wicketkeeper, or straight driving with great power and timing.

As Derbyshire began to make what had a looked a difficult target straightforward, all eyes were on Madsen and two questions; could he reach three figures and could he do it faster than anyone had ever done it for Derbyshire.

When Brooke Guest was dismissed off the first ball of the 18th over, Derbyshire required 20 runs to win off 17 balls with Madsen on 82 and Alex Hughes on strike.

Hughes batted to great effect, recognising his partner was close to a century and also that for Madsen to get there, he had to score the majority of the runs required to win the game. Hughes blocked his first ball before taking a single as Madsen then struck a boundary, a two and then a single off the last ball of the over to retain the strike.

Madsen took seven runs off the first three deliveries of the 19th over before Hughes took a quick single to return the strike to his senior partner. They then ran a quick couple before Madsen again retained the strike with a single, and off the first ball of the final over of the game, Madsen scampered a quick single to reach three figures. As he arrived at the City End of the pitch, he threw his arms aloft and roared towards his team mates and spectators on the Grandstand Terrace before walking off to a hero’s welcome.

As he left the field, every spectator rose to acclaim him before he was greeted by his wife and daughters on the boundary edge.

It was as heartwarming as it was magnificent and the fact that Derbyshire had qualified for the quarter finals of the competition made for a perfect day.

Indeed, Madsen’ century was perfect in its execution, and perfect for the large home crowd who witnessed their local superstar batting at his best.

8 Leus du Plooy 130 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge 2020 – County Championship

In early 2020, as Covid-19 struck with such a vengeance leaving the world in a state of flux, cricket was far from most people’s minds and when lockdown meant that the scheduled fixtures for that summer were cancelled, it seemed as if there might be no county cricket in the UK for the first time since 1945.

However, as restrictions eased, a shorter form of the season was announced, set to begin on 1st August. Each county was allotted  five four day games in a competition known as The Bob Willis Trophy, plus a Twenty20 competition consisting of ten matches per team. All matches were to be played behind closed doors with minimal media personnel in attendance, usually amounting to a BBC radio broadcaster, a couple of written media journalists and a photographer or two.

And with The County Ground at Derby being utilised as a bio-secure environment for the touring Pakistan team, all of Derbyshire’s fixtures were played away from home.

The opening game took place in gloriously sunny conditions against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and resulted in a remarkable three wicket win for Derbyshire late on the final day when Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s splendid 91 not out took his side to victory. Chasing 365 to win, the highest-ever successful run chase by Derbyshire in an inter-county match, the game was in its final over when the winning runs were struck.

But Derbyshire would have been chasing significantly more runs had it not been for Leus du Plooy’s magnificence in the first innings when he made 130 out of 239 as only two other players reached double figures.

Nottinghamshire posted 324 in their first innings and after being 26 for three, Derbyshire recovered to 119 for three before a flurry of wickets left them on 149 for eight and then 159 for eight. When the ninth wicket fell, du Plooy had only 61 runs to his name.

Sam Conners, batting at number 11 made an unbeaten five runs off 55 balls in over an hour and a half, but it was du Plooy batting in the manner of a left-handed Peter Kirsten, who stole the show. His mastery at maintaining the strike was a joy to behold, as were his shots all around the wicket, including over his own head.

He hit 17 fours and three sixes and added 80 runs for the last wicket with Conners in 19 overs, the county’s highest 10th wicket partnership against their East Midlands rivals.

Du Plooy played conventional and unconventional shots and was particularly severe on Jake Ball off who whom all his sixes came, one over mid-wicket to reach three figures, and then consecutive ones over long on and point.

It was a dazzling performance and one which merited a larger audience than the handful in the ground. Thankfully, armchair spectators had the benefit of the game being live streamed and were thus able to see some of du Plooy’s magic on screen.

A first innings deficit of 85 runs was a long way off what had seemed likely, all due to du Plooy’s century and the battling Conners.

And although it was – rightly – Hudson-Prentice who took the plaudits on the final day, there would have been little chance of a win without du Plooy’s remarkable innings.

7 Chesney Hughes 270 v Yorkshire at Headingley 2013 – County Championship

No player has ever scored a triple century for Derbyshire.

Triple centurions have represented the county – Lawrence Rowe and Chesteshwar Pujara reached 300, but not for Derbyshire, and so George Davidson’s epic 274 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1896 remains the highest individual score for the county.

There have been 56 double hundreds of which I’ve seen 38, and on numerous occasions I have thought to myself, or even shared the view, that the innings in question, when a player had cruised past 200, was the one, the time when a Derbyshire player would finally break Davidson’s record and take their score to 300.

Never was the expectation greater than when Chesney Hughes was batting against Yorkshire at Headingley in April 2013.

Tall, powerful and capable of scoring big hundreds – Hughes had twice passed 150 for Derbyshire before this innings – the Anguillan-born opener lost his partner Billy Godleman in the sixth over of the opening day of the game and then batted, untroubled, throughout that day to finish unbeaten on 171 and his side on 302 for four at the close of play.

Overnight conversations among supporters and members of the media up in Leeds centred on Hughes’ effort and the distinct possibility of him scoring a triple hundred. The biggest obstacle was the lack of support; Godleman, Wayne Madsen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Wes Durston were all out, and thus Hughes was relying on Dan Redfern followed by the allrounders David Wainwright and Jon Clare, plus Tom Poynton, Tony Palladino and Tim Groenewald. All but Groenewald would score a first class hundred for Derbyshire, so there was some solidity to the lower order.

When the second day began Redfern was out in the second over but Wainwright helped Hughes to add 81 for the sixth wicket despite only scoring 18 and Hughes steadily made his way past 200.

Wainwright and Clare fell with five runs of each other but Poynton was dogged in scoring 27 and helping to add 53 runs as Hughes kept going at the other end. Clearly tiring, and occasionally dropping to his haunches for a breather at the non-striker’s end, Hughes found glorious shots which had previously reached the rope now only being worth a single run as Yorkshire placed nine fielders on the boundary.

Palladino scored a useful 18 and at 474 for nine, with Hughes on 269, the triple hundred looked out of reach, but not so Davidson’s 274.

Groenewald walked out to join Hughes who took a single to move on to 270 leaving his partner to navigate an over from Adil Rashid, one of three frontline England international bowlers in the Yorkshire side.

I was seated alongside the Derby Telegraph journalist Mark Eklid on the Western Terrace – the only two people in that stand, cameras at the ready, hoping on hope that Davidson’s 274 would shortly be eclipsed but the final ball of Rashid’s over rapped Groenewald on the pads and he was given out leg before wicket.

Immediately, Hughes dropped to his haunches for a final time – he was fully away of how close he was to the Derbyshire record – before slowly rising to be shaken by the hand by the Yorkshire fielders before walking off to a standing ovation.

Hughes batted for 544 minutes and faced 415 deliveries, striking 40 fours and three sixes, his tally of 43 boundaries overtaking Chris Adams’ county record of 41 boundaries in his 216 against Kent at Maidstone in 1995.

When Yorkshire batted, another opener scored a double hundred, a young Joe Root making a sublime 236 before Jonny Bairstow hammered 186 off just 193 balls.

Twelve years later, Davidson’s 274 remains Derbyshire’s highest individual score, with Hughes’ 270 not out still second on the list.

6 Dominic Cork 200 v Durham at Derby in 2000 – County Championship

In 2000, county cricket was split into two divisions for the first time and Derbyshire, courtesy of finishing ninth in 1999, were in the top division that summer. It was a disappointing season with only two wins recorded, but a result was virtually guaranteed in this game once Derbyshire had been dismissed for 167 in 50.3 overs with Durham mustering only 144 in 47.5 overs. Derbyshire even had time to begin their second innings on that opening day.

The pattern of tumbling wickets continued on the second morning as Derbyshire slumped to 121 for six shortly after lunch at which point Matthew Dowman was joined by his captain, Dominic Cork, batting at number eight.

Initially, they batted with care, punishing bad balls but taking no chances going to tea on 240 for six and the close of play on 346 for six with both players having reached three figures. Derbyshire’s lead was 369 and the view of the home supporters was that Derbyshire had more than enough to win the game and that Dowman and Cork had performed splendidly to take their side to such a dominant position.

Cork, especially, had batted well, but on the third morning, he moved up a gear and became impossible to bowl to. He batted for just 82 minutes scoring 95 runs off 63 balls including 15 fours and three sixes. The healthy crowd – well used to Cork’s explosive batting – were staggered by his shot selection on this occasion, producing drives, cuts and pulls of the very highest order. When he reached 200, Cork called a halt to proceedings having struck 32 fours and three sixes – only six players have ever hit more boundaries in an innings for the county.

It remains the highest score by a player batting at number eight for Derbyshire and only 14 players in the history of the game worldwide have made a higher score in that position.

Cork was a magnificent, match-winning cricketer capable of great deeds including his man of the match performance against Lancashire in the Benson and Hedges Cup Final win in 1993 at Lord’s when his 92 not out presented his cricketing credentials to a wider audience, but he never batted better than in this innings against Durham.

And true to form with Cork, having declared the Derbyshire innings, he then took a wicket with the first ball of Durham’s second innings, Derbyshire duly winning by 232 runs.

Derbyshire Falcons T20 tickets on sale now!