Derbyshire CCC at Queens Park

Derbyshire played 390 first-class matches at Queens Park Chesterfield between 1898 and 1998.

Derbyshire's first match at Queens Park was in 1898, shortly after the completion of the new pavilion. Ironically in view of the events of more recent years, the match against Surrey proved to be such a financial success that Walter Suggs' benefit match against Yorkshire was switched from Derby to Chesterfield, with the beneficiary raising £340 - a princely sum at the time.

The match also produced a batting record which has never been beaten. The Yorkshire opening pair J T Brown (300) and John Tunnicliffe (243) put on an amazing 554 runs in only 305 minutes - a world first-wicket scoring record which stood for many years before being beaten by Sutcliffe and Holmes. The partnership still remains the highest ever in a game involving Derbyshire.

In 1904, W G Grace (pictured left) played against Derbyshire at Queens Park and the same year Derbyshires 'greatest' match took place. P A Perrin of Essex scored 343 not out (272 in boundaries) in a first innings total of 597 but ended up on the losing side as Derbyshire matched the first innings score, and then bowled Essex out for 97. Charles Olivierre scored 229 and 92 not out as Derbyshire won the match by nine wickets.

In the 1930's Don Bradman (pictured right) twice played for the Australians against Derbyshire at the Park and true to form averaged 60.5 in his three innings.

There have been many good performances for Derbyshire by Chesterfield's home grown players at Queen's Park but it was George Pope who was most successful at his 'home ground'. In 1947 he recorded the remarkable match figures of 13 wickets for 50 runs against Somerset, and the following year as part of the 'double' of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season he put in a brilliant performance against the 'old enemy' Yorkshire. Pope took 10 wickets in the match for just 25 runs and scored 73 in Derbyshire's innings. Sadly the weather intervened to deny Derbyshire their first victory against Yorkshire for 43 years.

At Chesterfield in 1957 two legendendary Derbyshire bowlers, Les Jackson and Cliff Gladwin produced one of their most famous performances on a damp Queens Park track against a Middlesex side which included Bill Edrich and Fred Titmus. In the first innings Gladwin took 6 for 23 to help bowl out the visitors for a meagre 102.

It got worse for Middlesex in the second innings when they were reduced to 1 for 4 as Gladwin took three wickets without conceding a run. At the close Middlesex were 11 for 6 with Gladwin taking 10 for 17 in the day.

When play resumed the next morning the visitors were further reduced to an amazing 13 for 9, but the last pair of Bennett and Moss put up stubborn resistance to take the total to 29 all out. Gladwin's bowling return was 5 for 18 and Jackson's 3 for 7. It is easy to see why the pair were one of the most feared bowling combinations of their day.
Brian Lara playing for Warwickshire against Derbyshire

In 1965, Queen's Park was the venue for the infamous 'no-ball' incident where the rumblings of Derbyshire fast bowler Harold Rhodes' so-called 'suspect' bowling action came prominently to the surface. At the time Rhodes was top of the national bowling averages, which ordinarily would have guaranteed him a place in the England Test team. However, after watching three balls of Rhodes first over umpire Syd Buller called 'no-ball' from the square leg position.

Enquiries from the Derbyshire captain confirmed that the 'no-ball' call was due to Buller's view that Rhodes was throwing the ball, which provoked a furious reaction from the partisan crowd. Umpire Buller had to be escorted from the field by two policemen at the end of the session.

Subsequent investigation and statements from the Test & County Cricket Board eventually cleared Rhodes' name, but the incident at Queen's Park effectively robbed him of a lengthy Test career.

In 1977, under the captaincy of Eddie Barlow, Derbyshire had a powerful side with a record four players from the county playing in a single Test match. They were Geoff Miller, Mike Hendrick, Bob Taylor and John Wright (New Zealand), two of which had also played for Chesterfield CC.

At this time, Derbyshire had a break from playing the majority of their games at Derby, and Queen's Park, Chesterfield was seriously considered as a new headquarters for the county club. Unfortunately, negotiations with the local council over plans for a new two-storey pavilion with banqueting rooms and an indoor cricket school at Queen's Park broke down and the idea was scrapped.

After the missed opportunites of the late 1970's, the status of Chesterfield as a venue for first-class cricket waned under the commercial pressures of the modern game and Derbyshire moved more and more of their games to the Racecourse Ground at Derby.

The trend culminated in the last first-class match being played against Gloucestershire at Queen's Park in June 1998.

The game ended in dull draw, and Neil Hallam of the Daily Telegraph recorded the event as follows:

"There are few more picturesque settings for cricket, especially since the recent demolition of the conspicuous Sixties office block which once disfigured the town end, but the transportation of fixtures from the urban sprawl of the County Ground at Derby to the tree-girdled environs of the crooked spire is becoming increasingly hard to justify."

The festival, if such a term can be justified by a few tunes from a jazz band one lunchtime and a few more from a brass band yesterday, was planned to celebrate 100 years of Derbyshire cricket at Queen's Park and was extensively advertised locally.

The response, however, was yesterday described as "pretty depressing"'' by Derbyshire secretary John Smedley, who added: "It would be very sad not to play on such a lovely ground but the facilities for players and spectators are very limited and in these money-conscious times I see it as my duty to carry out a financial feasibility study in the next few days so that we know exactly what it is costing us to enjoy the view here."

Despite the disappointments of recent years, Queens Park holds its place in cricket history. The ground has played host to legends of the game and many first-class records have been set there. Those that still endure are the famous highest partnership of 554, the overall total record against Derbyshire of 662 by Yorkshire, and the record Derbyshire 6th wicket partnership of 212 set by Lee and Worthington in 1932.

There will be many local people with memories of Derbyshire Cricket in the Park, and the club would be pleased to hear from anyone who would like to contribute memories of a favourite match, memorable performances, or anecdotes about cricket at Chesterfield for use on our website.