Derbyshire’s first away game of the Specsavers County Championship season sees the county take the short trip down the M1 to The Fischer County Ground to face Leicestershire.
Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks at the statistical background to the game.
This will be Derbyshire’s 106th scheduled first-class away game against Leicestershire, with only Lancashire – on 109 occasions – having hosted Derbyshire more times.
Of the previous 105 matches, 82 have been played at Leicester with 17 at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, three at Loughborough, two at Oakham School, and one at Coalville.
Derbyshire have won 28 of these encounters – most recently in June 2014, by nine wickets – Leicester 31, with 46 ending in a draw.
David Wainwright excelled in that 2014 victory, becoming only the 14th player to score a century and take five wickets in an innings for Derbyshire in a match, and the only occasion that the feat has been achieved for the county against Leicestershire.
In 2015, both Billy Godleman (101) and Wayne Madsen (172 not out) scored centuries at Leicester, albeit in a losing cause, while Mark Footitt took 5-53 in Leicestershire’s first innings. Madsen has enjoyed playing at Leicester, having scored 555 runs at an average of 61.66 in his seven games at that venue.
The following additional statistics relate solely to matches between Leicestershire and Derbyshire, played in Leicestershire;
- The highest score by a Derbyshire batsman is Kim Barnett’s 239 not out at Grace Road in 1988; Barnett also scored a century before lunch in 1997
- Les Townsend (233 at Loughborough) and Mohammad Azharuddin (212 at Grace Road) also scored double hundreds
- Derbyshire’s all-time third-wicket record partnership is 316 by Kim Barnett and Adrian Rollins at Grace Road in 1997
- Derbyshire batsman have made individual scores in the 90s on more occasions in away games against Leicestershire than against any other county
- Derbyshire’s highest-ever fourth innings score of 396 was made in 2007 against Leicestershire in a valiant attempt to win the game on the final day, losing by just 28 runs as captain Simon Katich made a magnificent 167
- Derbyshire’s highest innings total is 508-7 declared at Loughborough in 1933
- In 2005, Paul Borrington became the youngest-ever player to make his debut for Derbyshire in a Championship match when he played against Leicestershire at Leicester aged 17 years and 107 days – Hamidullah Qadri has since made his Championship debut at a younger age
- There have been 16 instances of a Derbyshire player taking 10 wickets in a match – with the best being 13-98 by Bill Bestwick at Ashby in 1923
- The best match analysis at Leicester is 13-135 by George Walker in 1895, which included 8-23 before lunch
- The best bowling figures recorded by a Derbyshire bowler this century is the 6-48 in the final game of the 2008 by off-spinner, Jake Needham
- Two Derbyshire bowlers have performed the hat-trick; Kevin Dean in 2000, and Tony Palladino in 2012, both at Leicester
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