Derbyshire face Durham in a first-class match at The 3aaa County Ground for the first time since 2013, when both sides were in the first division of the Specsavers County Championship.
Heritage Officer, David Griffin, looks at the statistical background to the game.
The two sides have met on 12 occasions in Championship matches in Derbyshire, with both sides winning three games and six draws.
It’s almost 26 years since Derbyshire first hosted Durham in first-class cricket back in June 1992. That first game took place at Chesterfield and was ruined by the weather, with the opening two days lost in their entirety to rain. Both sides forfeited their first innings and played a one innings match which petered out into a draw with future Derbyshire captain, Dean Jones making an unbeaten 93 for the visitors.
The narrowest margin of victory for Derbyshire came in April 2002, when, in a relatively low-scoring affair, Derbyshire secured a five-run first innings lead having been inserted by the visitors. Michael Di Venuto, Dominic Cork and debutante Mohammad Ali made half centuries for Derbyshire, while Nicky Peng provided the bulk of Durham’s first innings runs with 108 made in just under four hours.
Cork was the pick of the bowlers, taking 5-72, but it was his opening partner, Kevin Dean, who surprised most observers, making his maiden half century, batting at number 10 in Derbyshire’s second innings.
Set 234 to win, Durham were 187-2, with Collingwood making 76, before Cork emphasised his well-known match-winning qualities with a further five-wicket haul.
With five runs required for victory, Durham still had three wickets in hand, but a fired-up Cork demolished the lower order to see his side to victory.
Cork had also featured heavily in Derbyshire’s 232-run win over Durham at Derby in 2000, making 200 not out after coming in at eight. There have only been 10 instances in the entire history of the game of a player making a higher score batting at number eight in the order.
The following additional statistics relate solely to matches between Derbyshire and Durham in Derbyshire;
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