Derbyshire’s next fixture takes place in the delightful setting of Queen’s Park, Chesterfield against Northamptonshire in the Specsavers County Championship.
Heritage Officer and Statistician, David Griffin, looks at the statistical background to the game.
Derbyshire and Northamptonshire have met on 173 occasions in first-class cricket, with Derbyshire winning 52, Northamptonshire, 60, with 60 matches drawn and one complete abandonment at Chesterfield in 2016.
In 2018, Derbyshire completed the double over Northamptonshire, winning by 39 runs as Matt Critchley took 10 wickets in the match at Chesterfield, and winning by a much tighter margin – one wicket – at Northampton, with Harvey Hosein making a match-winning, unbeaten 54.
Derbyshire’s highest innings total in these games is 569 at Northampton in 2012, a match in which Wayne Madsen and Tom Poynton added a remarkable 261 runs for the ninth wicket in Derbyshire’s only innings. Even more remarkably, that partnership wasn’t even a record for Derbyshire, falling short of Warren and Chapman’s world-record partnership for the same wicket of 283 at Blackwell in 1910.
Derbyshire’s lowest total is 46 at Northampton in 1912 in a very low-scoring match; Derbyshire batted first and made 67 all out and the hosts replied with 56 all out. Derbyshire then made 46 in the third innings before Northamptonshire made 58-4 in the last innings to win by 6 wickets.
Northamptonshire’s highest team total is 647-5 – the fourth highest score ever made against Derbyshire – which secured them an innings victory at Derby in 2003. Their lowest total is 42 all out, at Derby in 1908.
Derbyshire’s batsmen have scored 67 centuries against Northamptonshire with Wayne Madsen’s 231 not out in 2012 at the top of the list. Michael DI Venuto scored 230 at Derby in 2002, and Peter Kirsten scored 209, also at Derby in 1980.
The earliest hundred came in 1905, when Levi Wright scored 195 at Derby, while the most recent was in the second innings at Chesterfield in 2018, when Wayne Madsen scored 116.
Another Wright, John, scored five hundreds against Northamptonshire, more than any other player.
Matt Critchley, who scored an unbeaten 137 against Northamptonshire at Derby in 2015, was the youngest player ever to score a first-class century for Derbyshire – he was aged just 18 years and 270 days.
Luis Reece (168) made a hundred on his first-class debut for Derbyshire against Northamptonshire in the opening game of the 2017 season with Billy Godleman (156) also making a century. This was the second instance of both opening batsmen making centuries in the same innings against Northamptonshire, Madsen and Chris Rogers having performed the feat at Northampton in 2010.
The Reece / Godleman partnership in 2017 was 333, a record for Derbyshire’s first wicket in all first-class cricket, and the third highest for any wicket overall for the county.
There have been some impressive all-round performances over the years against Northamptonshire; Garnet Lee, at Northampton in 1927, scored 100 and took 12-143 in the match, one of only three instances of a player making a century and taking ten wickets in a game for the county.
A year later. Lee scored 30 and 155 and took 5-57, while George Pope, at Chesterfield in 1947, scored a century and took 6-43 in Northamptonshire’s first innings.
Jon Clare also had a fine all-round match at Northampton in 2008 scoring 129 not out, and then taking 7-74 in the hosts’ only innings.
The best innings analysis by a Derbyshire bowler is 9-43 by Dominic Cork at Derby in 1995. Arguably at the height of his bowling powers, Cork’s performance was masterly, bowling unchanged throughout the innings for 22 overs. He took 4-50 in the second innings, but, despite his Herculean effort, the visitors won by four wickets.
The best innings figures at Chesterfield are Mike Hendrick’s 8-50 in 1972, when, almost as a pre-cursor to Cork’s effort 23 years later, he also bowled unchanged throughout the innings for 22 overs.
There have been 25 instances of bowlers taking ten wickets in a match for Derbyshire against Northamptonshire with Sam Cadman’s 14-104 at Northampton in 1920 at the top of the table.
England leg-spinner, Tommy Mitchell performed the feat on five occasions, and another leg-spinner, Matt Critchley was the latest to perform the feat, taking 10-194 in the win at Chesterfield in 2018.
Two Derbyshire bowlers have performed the hat-trick in these fixtures – Harry Storer at Chesterfield in 1922 and Les Townsend at Northampton in 1931.
Vitality Blast is back this month! Tickets for all seven home matches on sale now, including the big clash against Notts Outlaws on Friday 26 July. Buy online or call 01332 388 101.
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