Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1946 represents the first cricket season after a six-year break from first class cricket during World War II. The English club Derbyshire had been playing for seventy five years. It was their forty-second season in the County Championship and they won five matches and lost thirteen to finish fifteenth (two from bottom) in the County Championship.

1946 season

On the resumption of county cricket after the Second World War in 1946 the main problem affecting Derbyshire was that of finding a regular captain. The convention was that the captain be an amateur and usually no one was available for more than one year.W.T. Taylor History of Derbyshire cricket Wisden 1953 Gilbert Hodgkinson filled the role in 1946 and they made a poor re-entry to the County Championship .

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1947 edition), in its review of the 1946 season, remarked that "the weather in 1946 might have been dreadful, but it didn't stop the crowds flocking to games".Wisden 1947. Retrieved on 29 September 2009.

Derbyshire began their season with a tour of Ireland. They played 26 games in the County Championship, and one match against the touring Indians. They won five matches altogether, and these wins came in a bright patch in the middle of the season. Denis Smith was top scorer and Cliff Gladwin took most wickets with 102. Pat Vaulkhard and Denis Smith's 4th wicket partnership of 328 against Nottinghamshire remains a record for the county.

The club retained a nucleus of pre-war players, and Pat Vaulkhard, a future captain, had previously played for Nottinghamshire. Alan Revill, Eric Marsh, John Eggar and Roy Genders all began their first-class career during the season, although some had already played for the club in miscellaneous matches during the war. England footballer Raich Carter turned out for Derbyshire at cricket. However newcomers Walter Fullwood and Jack Pearson did not play beyond the end of the season, and John Tomlinson only played one match for the club in 1946.

Matches

List of matchesNo.DateVResult MarginNotes1 15 May 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Leicestershire 15 May 1946 Leicestershire Lost 7 wickets 218 May 1946Cricket Archive Essex v Derbyshire18 May 1946 Essex Lost 8 wickets 3 25 May 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Kent 25 May 1946 Kent Drawn 4 29 May 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Hampshire 29 May 1946 Hampshire Lost 7 wickets 5 01 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Middlesex v Derbyshire 01 Jun 1946 Middlesex Drawn6 08 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Warwickshire 08 Jun 1946 Warwickshire Drawn 7 12 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Worcestershire v Derbyshire 12 Jun 1946 Worcestershire Lost Innings and 2 runs 815 Jun 1946Cricket ArchiveNorthamptonshire v Derbyshire 15 Jun 1946 Northamptonshire Drawn 919 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Surrey v Derbyshire 19 Jun 1946 Surrey Drawn 10 22 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Lancashire 22 Jun 1946 Lancashire Lost Innings and 110 runs 11 29 Jun 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Yorkshire 29 Jun 1946 Yorkshire Lost 4 wickets 12 03 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Surrey 03 Jul 1946 Surrey Won 2 wickets 13 06 Jul 1946Cricket ArchiveLeicestershire v Derbyshire 06 Jul 1946 LeicestershireLost 162 runs 14 10 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Indians 10 Jul 1946 Indian cricket team in England in 1946Lost 118 runs 15 13 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Lancashire v Derbyshire 13 Jul 1946 Lancashire Lost 9 wickets 16 20 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Sussex 20 Jul 1946 Sussex Won 2 wickets 17 24 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Hampshire v Derbyshire 24 Jul 1946 HampshireWon 6 wickets 18 27 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire 27 Jul 1946 Nottinghamshire Drawn 19 31 Jul 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Glamorgan 31 Jul 1946 Glamorgan Won Innings and 21 runs 20 03 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Warwickshire v Derbyshire 03 Aug 1946 Warwickshire Won 5 wickets 21 07 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Glamorgan v Derbyshire 07 Aug 1946 Glamorgan Lost Innings and 115 runs 22 10 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Worcestershire 10 Aug 1946 Worcestershire Abandoned23 14 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Northamptonshire 14 Aug 1946 Northamptonshire Lost 7 wickets 24 17 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire 17 Aug 1946 Nottinghamshire Drawn 25 21 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Kent v Derbyshire 21 Aug 1946 Kent Lost 8 wickets 26 24 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Derbyshire v Gloucestershire 24 Aug 1946 Gloucestershire Lost 81 runs 27 28 Aug 1946Cricket Archive Somerset v Derbyshire 28 Aug 1946 Somerset Drawn

Statistics

County Championship batting averages Name Matches Inns Runs High score Average 100sD Smith 24 42 1391 146 35.66 2A F Townsend 24 42 1137 105 27.73 1CS Elliott 24 44 846 120 20.63 1P Vaulkhard 13 20 634 264 31.70 1 T S Worthington 16 27 539 147* 20.73 1AC Revill 22 38 534 61 16.18 0AEG Rhodes 25 39 508 63 13.72 0A E Alderman 14 24 503 101 22.86 1C Gladwin 25 42 488 61* 15.25 0GF Hodgkinson 14 23 351 41 15.26 0FE Marsh 15 25 229 24 13.47 0W H Copson 24 33 98 18* 4.26 0JD Eggar 3 5 171 86 34.20 0H Pope 8 12 67 24* 6.70 0WR Genders 3 6 62 24 12.40 0W Fullwood 6 10 41 13 4.55 0T R Armstrong 5 9 37 10* 9.25 0LI Pearson 2 4 24 18 6.00 0HS Carter 3 4 8 7 2.00 0DB Carr 4 5 6 5 1.20 0JDW Tomlinson 1 1 2 2 2.00 0Batting and Fielding for Derbyshire County Championship 1946

County Championship bowling averages Name Balls Runs Wickets BB AverageC Gladwin 4695 1812 102 7-41 17.76W H Copson 4614 1836 91 6-49 20.17AEG Rhodes 4068 2010 69 7-109 29.13T R Armstrong 1122 493 28 5-32 17.60FE Marsh 1085 591 16 3-31 36.93DB Carr 424 181 9 3-43 20.11H Pope 837 420 9 2-86 46.66CS Elliott 492 278 6 2-25 46.33AC Revill 321 131 3 3-13 43.66 T S Worthington660 279 3 2-24 93.00HS Carter 90 46 2 2-39 23.00JD Eggar 186 86 0WR Genders 18 22 0Bowling for Derbyshire County Championship 1946

Wicket Keepers D Smith Catches 32, Stumping 4 W Fullwood Catches 5, Stumping 1 P Vaulkhard Catches 15, Stumping 1

See also Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons 1946 English cricket season

References