Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1890 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing twenty years. Derbyshire's matches were not considered to be first class in this season. Derbyshire had recruited Fred Spofforth a former Australian captain to help revive the club's fortunes. Spofforth was successful off the field in uncovering irregularities that contributed to the financial difficulties that had bedevilled the club for many years.

1890 season Derbyshire played fourteen games, winning seven and losing five. They played the same county teams as in previous years and also minor county Norfolk for the first time. They also played against MCC and the touring Australians. Fred Spofforth, known as the "Demon Bowler" had toured England with the Australians in 1886, and afterwards chose to live in Derbyshire. With the residential qualification met in 1890, Spofforth was able not only to play for Derbyshire but to captain the side.W.T. Taylor History of Derbyshire cricket Wisden 1953 Although the Demon Bowler took 9 for 56 against Leicestershire, it was George Davidson who took most wickets. Levi Wright was top scorer. Derbyshire did not have had a dedicated wicket-keeper during the season.

Matches {| class="wikitable" width="100%" ! colspan=6 | List of matches |- !No. !Date !V !Result !Margin !Notes

|1 | 26 May 1890Cricket Archive - Essex v Derbyshire 26 May 1890 | Essex County Ground, Leyton |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | 8 runs | Pickett 5-24 and 5-83; G Davidson 6-47 and 5-58

|2 |02 Jun 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Surrey 02 Jun 1890 | Surrey County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | 28 runs | G Davidson 6-36; Sharpe 5-65; W Sugg 5-44

|3 |16 Jun 1890Cricket Archive - Leicestershire v Derbyshire 16 Jun 1890 | Leicestershire Grace Road, Leicester |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | 7 wickets | Joyce 5-85; GG Walker 7-53

|4 |30 Jun 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Australians 30 Jun 1890 | Australians County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | Turner 6–16; FR Spofforth 6-42

|5 |06 Jul 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Yorkshire 06 Jul 1890 | Yorkshire County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | Innings and 25 runs | G Davidson 5-69

|6 |14 Jul 1890Cricket Archive - Marylebone Cricket Club v Derbyshire 14 Jul 1890 | MCC Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | Innings and 181 runs | Davenport 158*; Shacklock 5-56

|7 |24 Jul 1890Cricket Archive - Surrey v Derbyshire 24 Jul 1890 | Surrey Kennington Oval |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | Innings and 58 runs | Key 137; LG Wright 122; S Malthouse 5–112; Sharpe 6-79

|8 | 28 Jul 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire 28 Jul 1890 | Nottinghamshire County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | Innings and 71 runs | Flowers 5-19

|9 |04 Aug 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Essex 04 Aug 1890 | Essex County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | 8 wickets | Mead 6-?; GG Walker 6-?; Pickett 6-?

|10 |08 Aug 1890Cricket Archive - Norfolk v Derbyshire 08 Aug 1890 | Norfolk County Ground, Lakenham |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | Innings and 60 runs | F Evershed 111; Hoare 5–106; GG Walker 6-27

|11 | 11 Aug 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Leicestershire 11 Aug 1890 | LeicestershireCounty Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | 145 runs | FR Spofforth 9-56 and 5-58

|12 | 18 Aug 1890Cricket Archive - Yorkshire v Derbyshire 18 Aug 1890 | Yorkshire Bramall Lane, Sheffield |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | 52 runs | GG Walker 5-66

|13 |25 Aug 1890Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Norfolk 25 Aug 1890 | Norfolk County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | Innings and 23 runs | GG Walker 5–19; Morton 6-57; FR Spofforth 7-26

|14 |01 Sep 1890Cricket Archive - Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire 01 Sep 1890 | Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | GG Walker 6-82

Statistics Batting averages

Name Matches Inns Runs High score Average 100s W Chatterton 13 22 538 86 24.45 0 LG Wright 12 24 544 122 22.67 1 S Malthouse 9 16 348 74 21.75 0 H Bagshaw 5 9 1803520.00 0 F Evershed 7 11 207 111 18.82 1 G Davidson 14 24 448 58 18.67 0W L Shipton 2 4 69 36 17.25 0 SH Evershed 12 19 289 57 15.21 0 W Sugg 13 21 295 58 14.05 0 W Hall 9 15 196 64 13.07 0 W Storer 12 19 207 51 10.89 0 C Evans 3 4 36 30 9.00 0 F R Spofforth 6 9 75 9 8.33 0 E Evershed 5 7 56 19 8.00 0 HC MosbyHerbert Mosby at Cricket Archive 5 10 78 29 7.80 0 GG Walker 12 18 138 31 7.67 0 W S Eadie 3 5 35 19 7.00 0 G Porter 6 10 60 23 6.00 0 J Marshall 1 1 4 4 4.00 0 T PurdyThomas Purdy at Cricket Archive 1 2 5 4 2.50 0 J Marlow 1 2 4 2 2.00 0 JJ Disney 1 2 3 2 1.50 0

Bowling averages

Name Balls Runs Wickets BB Average G Davidson 2952 1174 67 6-36 17.52 GG Walker 1611 650 55 7-53 11.82 FR Spofforth 1071 461 42 9-56 10.98 G Porter 920 359 21 4-78 17.10 W Sugg 447 226 13 5-44 17.38 S Malthouse 672 290 12 5-115 24.17 W Chatterton 485 235 8 4-34 29.38 HC Mosby 325 161 4 2-21 40.25 C Evans 125 62 1 1-22 62.00 W Hall 210 107 1 1-6 107.00 SH Evershed 10 7 0 LG Wright 15 17 0 H Bagshaw 90 32 0 J Marlow 115 43 0

Wicket Keeper

There does not appear to have been a regular wicket-keeper this season, and no wickets were taken by stumping.

Financial scandal

By 1890 Derbyshire County Cricket Club was found to be in deep financial crisis. Fred Spofforth played a key part in identifying a fraud that had been committed. The cricket club's losses amounted to £1000 and Derby County Football Club was also raided. In 1880 Samuel Richardson, the club's first captain had become an administrator of the club, and in 1884 the remit was extended to the associated Derby County Football Club. Richardson admitted his guilt, fled the country in disgrace and settled in Madrid.Bygone Derbyshire - Sam Richardson Derbyshire Cricket's Man of Mystery

See also Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons 1890 English cricket season

References