Derbyshire welcome opponents Northamptonshire to The 3aaa County Ground for the opening Specsavers County Championship game of the season on Friday 14 April.
Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks at the statistical background to the game.
This will be the 50th championship game at Derby between the two sides, having started the sequence way back in July 1905 with a victory to the home side by an innings and 50 runs.
It will be Derbyshire’s 2,775th first class game, and the 169th against Northamptonshire with the playing record between the two sides reading 50 wins for Derbyshire, 58 defeats and 60 draws, including the abandonment at Chesterfield in 2016.
In terms of recent history, the sides have met on 24 occasions in Division Two, with Derbyshire recording 4 victories, 6 defeats and 14 draws. However, Derbyshire’s last defeat in these contests was at Chesterfield in 2011, with their last victory coming in 2015 at Wantage Road.
The most recent memorable victory for Derbyshire came in the opening fixture of the 2012 season, when David Wainwright (pictured above) spun Derbyshire to victory under the floodlights on the final day. Wainwright’s debut figures of 6-33 was the second best by a Derbyshire debutante – only bettered by Dove Gregory’s 6-9 against Lancashire in 1871.
Derbyshire’s highest ever individual score against Northamptonshire is 231 not out at Northampton by Wayne Madsen in 2012, as Derbyshire scored 569 in their second innings – their highest innings total against Northants. The best bowling figures were recorded by the great Cliff Gladwin who claimed 8-26 in 1947 at Rushden.
There are currently three players in the Derbyshire squad with first class hundreds to their name for Derbyshire against Northamptonshire – Matt Critchley, Alex Hughes and Wayne Madsen; and Tony Palladino is the only current bowler with a five wicket haul against them.
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