Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1884 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for thirteen years. They lost all ten county matches and their only victory was against MCC. Partly in response to this the club created as an offshoot the football club Derby County F.C. in 1884.
1884 cricket season
Derbyshire played ten county matches, one against the touring Australians and one against MCC. Ludford Docker was captain for his only season. In a sparse season without any centuries, Frank Sugg was top scorer. William Cropper and Joseph Marlow shared most wickets with 34 each.
The season was marked by the arrival of the two Sugg brothers from Yorkshire - Frank and Walter. Frank moved to Lancashire CCC after three years, but Walter had a long career with Derbyshire. Frank Shacklock played the first of two seasons for the club. Cricket poet Alfred Cochrane made his debut, sharing his appearances with Oxford University over the following years. Joseph Chatterton, younger brother of William, played the first of three seasons. William Shipton played one match but only played for the county again when they were without first class status. Matthew Burrows played his one career match during the season.
The season saw the retirement of two originals of the first Derbyshire side in 1871 - Robert Smith and John Platts. Platts returned to the sport as an umpire. Two other long-timers also left - Thomas Foster first played in 1873. He was running a pub and later returned to umpire. Henry Shaw had joined in 1875.
Matches
List of first class matchesNo.DateVResult MarginNotes1 22 May 1884Cricket Archive - Lancashire v Derbyshire Lancashire Lost 42 runs 2 29 May 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Surrey Surrey Lost 5 wickets3 02 Jun 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Australians Australians Lost Innings and 40 runs4 05 Jun 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Kent Kent Lost 67 runs5 09 Jun 1884Cricket Archive - Marylebone Cricket Club v Derbyshire MCC Won7 runs6 23 Jun 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Yorkshire Yorkshire Lost 10 wickets7 28 Jul 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Sussex Sussex Lost 50 runs8 04 Aug 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Lancashire Lancashire Lost Innings and 36 runs 9 11 Aug 1884Cricket Archive - Sussex v Derbyshire Sussex Lost 7 wickets10 18 Aug 1884Cricket Archive - Kent v Derbyshire Kent Lost Innings and 9 runs 11 21 Aug 1884Cricket Archive - Surrey v Derbyshire Surrey Lost 7 wickets12 25 Aug 1884Cricket Archive - Yorkshire v Derbyshire YorkshireLost 10 wickets
List of other matchesNo.DateVResult MarginNotes112 Jun 1884Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Staffordshire 12 Jun 1884 Staffordshire Won Innings and 24 runs221 Jul 1884Cricket Archive - Staffordshire v Derbyshire 21 Jul 1884 Staffordshire Won 3 wickets
Statistics
First-class batting averages Name Am/Pro Age Hand Matches Inns Runs High score Average 100s SH Evershed A 23 R 2 3 53 50 17.66 0 LC Docker A 24 R 12 23 381 58 17.31 0 FH Sugg P 22 R 13 26 439 73 16.88 0 WW Wood-Sims A 26 R 9 18 285 44 16.76 0 GG Walker A 23 L 9 18 232 66 16.57 0 W Cropper 21 R 12 24 366 46 15.91 0 GB Barrington A 27 R 4 8 114 50 14.25 0 Walter Sugg 24 R 3 6 55 26* 13.75 0 AHJ Cochrane A 19 R 3 6 81 50 13.50 0 H Shaw A 30 R 1 2 12 12* 12.00 0 T Mycroft P 36 L 12 24 148 24* 11.38 0 FJ Shacklock P 22 R 9 18 171 50 10.68 0 T Foster P 35 R 9 18 178 33* 10.47 0 William Chatterton P 22 R 12 24 229 49 10.40 0 R P Smith A 35 R 6 12 92 23 7.66 0 J Marlow 29 R 12 24 170 25 7.39 0 W Evershed A 31 R 1 2 14 10 7.00 0 M Burrows 28 R 1 2 13 13 6.50 0 J T B D Platts P 35 L 3 6 24 13 4.00 0 LG Wright A 22 R 2 4 12 4 3.00 0 WL Shipton A 23 R 1 2 4 3 2.00 0 JD Chatterton 17 R 1 2 0 0 0.00 0
A number of additional players appeared in the matches against Staffordshire. Apart from William Delacombe and Ralph Docker none of these players appeared in any first class matches for Derbyshire. These players were CC Marshall, Haydn Morley, WB Woodforde, A Jourdain, William Turnley, F C Newton, D Bostock, Johnstone and Giffard.
First-class bowling averages Name Hand Balls Runs Wickets BB Average W Cropper L M 1603 606 34 6-46 17.82 J Marlow R M 1795 679 34 7-46 19.97 William Chatterton R Sl 1180 452 24 4-34 18.83 FJ Shacklock R F 833 419 24 5-42 17.45GG Walker L F & Sl 1287 640 23 3-26 27.82 AHJ Cochrane L M 284 148 8 6-51 18.50 Walter Sugg R M 74 58 5 3-18 11.60H Shaw R round-arm M 60 26 4 4-26 6.50LC Docker R MF 138 70 2 1-0 35.00J T B D Platts R F 17 10 1 1-2 10.00T Foster R round-arm F 32 13 0 WW Wood-Sims 36 10 0 M Burrows R round-arm F 16 10 0 SH Evershed RM 8 8 0
Wicket keeping Thomas Mycroft Catches 23 Stumping 8
Derby County Football Club Derby County F.C. was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of the cricket club in an attempt to give players and supporters a winter interest as well as secure the cricket club extra revenue. The original intention was to name the club "Derbyshire County F.C." to highlight the link, though the Derbyshire FA, formed in 1883, objected on the grounds it was too long and therefore would not have been understood by the fans. Playing their home matches at the cricket club's Racecourse Ground, 1884/85 saw the club undertake an extensive programme of friendly matches, the first of which was a 6–0 defeat to Great Lever on 13 September 1884. The club's first competitive match came in the 1885 FA Cup, where they lost 7–0 at home to Walsall Town.
See also Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons 1884 English cricket season Imperfect season
References