Derbyshire Cricket Grounds, A Post-War Survey
by Alan Rowley, 26th May 2004

When Shipley Hall's Simon Lacey was looking for something to do to pass the long winter Saturdays without cricket he dreamt up a 'crackpot notion to visit every town, village or hamlet in Derbyshire'. He was inspired by the publication of Peter Wynne-Thomas' book about Nottinghamshire cricket grounds and 'Derbyshire Cricket Grounds, A Post War Survey' was born.

In his acknowledgments, Lacey says: "I enlisted the help of two experts. Chris Higginbottom knows an awful lot about Derbyshire cricket and the people who run its clubs and Tom Whittington had access to a digital camera, an almost unfathomable ability to read Ordnance Survey maps and a working knowledge of trees and geology."

The three intrepid authors then spent the best part of three years touring the county and logging and photographing every ground that has hosted cricket since the end of World War Two. They are aware that the book is not a definitive edition and they would welcome any information on grounds that they missed, but as a historical record of cricket in the county, it is an invaluable and must-have book.

The book only considers post-war cricket grounds that have been used for senior cricket. 'Beer' matches played on public parks are not considered. The book does not attempt to compare grounds and rates each ground on its own merits.

It is noted in the introduction that Derbyshire County Cricket Club has played first class cricket at fourteen grounds in its history, with four of them being outside the county. Even the most ardent supporter would struggle to name half of them, and there are some surprises. Each one is noted in the book's appendix and includes all grounds used for second XI cricket.

Another appendix lists the number of clubs by category. These categories being private clubs, public parks, miners welfares, companies, institutions, educational and country houses. The frightening aspect to this section is that, of 372 grounds logged only 172 had usable strips in 2003. How many more will fall by the wayside in the future?

The main part of the book is the gazeteer which covers every town, village or hamlet that has seen post-war cricket. Flicking through the book, thoughts return to the mind of grounds seen in our youth that have long disappeared. The gazeteer holds many surprises and readers will be amazed at some of the grounds where cricket has been played.

One unlikely place can be found in the photographs in the centre of the book which has Hopton and Carsington Cricket Club's ground near Hopton Hall in "a ravine with tree-lined hills on three sides and a high brick wall on the other". The book states: "It is unimaginable how cricket could have been played here."

There are many more surprises contained within the book's 146 pages. The authors' painstaking research has resulted in a book that is a delight to read and a must to put in that cricket bag for when rain intervenes. The book is already sparking debate and discussion around the grounds and is well worth the asking price of a tenner.

Derbyshire Cricket Grounds, A Post-War Survey by Simon Lacey, Chris Higginbottom and Tom Whittington, with a foreword by Jon Salisbury. Published by Simon Lacey. Available from Simon Lacey, c/o Shipley Hall Cricket Club, The Field, Shipley, Heanor, Derbyshire, DE7 7JH. Books cost £10, plus £2 postage and packaging. Books may also be purchased in person direct from the authors.