Should Derbyshire CCC venture away from Derby?
by Alan Rowley, 18th November 2001

With the 2002 county fixture list almost finalised, Derbyshire supporters north of Matlock will be glancing through them hoping to see the county playing home matches away from the County Ground - they will again be disappointed.

Derbyshire have played home matches at 14 venues since their formation. The last time they ventured away from their Derby home was in 1998 when they played the last of their 399 games at Queen's Park, Chesterfield. This ended county cricket at the venue after 100 years.

Chesterfield is a delightful ground lying within a park that was established for Queen Victoria's jubilee. Described by Dickie Bird as "one of the most picturesque grounds in the country" , the ground is overlooked by the twisted spire of the All Saints Church, making it an attractive setting for county cricket.

The venue still stages second XI cricket and the joint Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire Premier Cup final is staged there alternately with Trent Bridge.

Being a small ground, by county cricket standards, run scoring is relatively easy. It was here that Yorkshire openers Brown and Tunnicliffe set a record 554 for the first wicket - a record that stood for many years. In 1904, Essex batsman P. A. Perrin made an unbeaten 343, including 272 in boundaries.

Derbyshire's other ventures into the county took first class cricket to Ilkeston (93 games), Burton-on-Trent (53 games at three venues), Buxton (48 games), Glossop (15 games), Blackwell (7 games), Dore (2 games) and one game each at Saltergate, Heanor, Long Eaton and Wirksworth.

Proposals to stage cricket at Chesterfield again were suggested a couple of seasons ago, but they soon died a death when agreements could not be reached.

Given the excellent facilities at Queen's Park, don't you think Derbyshire should at least consider staging games at the ground again?

An odd Sunday game or two a season would be sufficient to give the followers in the north of the county something to look forward to, and a packed house would be assured. More than can be said for the County Ground.