Match Preview: Northamptonshire (A)

Derbyshire begin their 61st season of One Day cricket with a trip to Wantage Road to face Northamptonshire.

Heritage Officer David Griffin looks back at the previous fixtures between the two counties.

For Derbyshire followers of a certain vintage, a limited overs game against Northamptonshire conjures up reminders of that memorable Saturday in September 1981 when these two counties contested the first NatWest Trophy final at Lord’s, Derbyshire winning by virtue of having lost fewer wickets with the scores level.

That Derbyshire side contained eight players who were already Test cricketers or would subsequently go on to play at that level; John Wright, Peter Kirsten, Barry Wood, Kim Barnett, David Steele, Geoff Miller, Bob Taylor and Mike Hendrick, and the other three – Alan Hill, Paul Newman and Colin Tunnicliffe – all had lengthy, successful careers with Derbyshire.

The forthcoming game will be the 65th scheduled One Day match between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, 32 of which have been won by Derbyshire and 18 by Northamptonshire. There has been one tie – at Derby in 1995, while seven games were abandoned and six ended as no result.

Derbyshire’s highest team score is 324 for seven at Derby in 1997, while Northamptonshire’s best of 311 for seven was still not enough to win at Northampton in 2022.

Derbyshire have made 14 individual hundreds in these games with Ben Slater’s 148 at Northampton in 2016 being the highest, although Billy Godleman is the only player to make two centuries.

Mohammad Azharuddin’s 111 not out in 1994 must surely rank as the best of the 14 one day hundreds; his innings included two fours and eight sixes and was full of magnificently timed shots. His dominance was highlighted during the fourth wicket partnership with Adrian Rollins, when the pair added 142 of which Rollins made a mere 35.

Northamptonshire have scored six individual hundreds with Rob Bailey’s unbeaten 125 at Derby in 1987 being the highest.

With the ball Peter Kirsten, Devon Malcolm, Phill Russell and Colin Tunnicliffe have all taken five wickets in a match, with Malcolm’s seven for 35 at Derby in 1997 topping the list.

Alan Hodgson’s six for 22 at Northampton in 1977 tops the home side’s list, with three other bowlers, John Blain, Greg Thomas and Duncan Wild having taken five in a match.

Derbyshire’s recent record against Northamptonshire is good – seven wins from the last 10 matches, and they won both of the last two games at Wantage Road in 2022 and 2023.

50-over cricket returns this month!

The Metro Bank One-Day Cup returns for the school holidays, with four huge 50-over fixtures to be played in Derby.

Tickets on sale now – buy in advance to save!