Derbyshire Men’s 2026 Fixture Preview

As the mild and wet autumn of 2025 gives way to the first blast of cold weather just a month before Christmas, a glance at the fixtures list for 2026 helps to add a welcome heart-warming cup of cheer.

Heritage Officer David Griffin casts his eye over the mouth-watering list of opponents and venues.

Two months have passed since Derbyshire completed the 2025 season with an emphatic innings victory over Kent at Canterbury which saw them end the Championship campaign in third position, just five points behind second-placed promoted Glamorgan.

And even though there are four months of winter and early spring to navigate before the new season comes around, the arrival of the fixtures at least whets the appetite for what’s to come.

The first thing to note is that, as per 2025, there will be 14 County Championship matches and eight Metro Bank 50-over matches, but the Twenty20 Blast reverts to three regional divisions…with a twist, as we shall see.

As March draws to a close, Derbyshire will welcome Leeds/Bradford UCCE to The Central Co-op County Ground for a three-day non-first class game. These sides last met at Derby in March 2024 when a draw was virtually guaranteed by the loss of 124 overs to rain and a wet outfield.

Derby will host the Championship-opener once again, against Worcestershire, the fourth season in a row that Derbyshire will have begun their season at home.

Worcestershire were relegated from the first division at the end of 2025 and will be looking to bounce back at the first attempt, while Derbyshire will want to avoid a repeat of the last game at Derby between these two sides, the opening match of the 2023 season when the visitors won by eight wickets.

Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester is the venue for the first away fixture where Derbyshire and Lancashire shared the spoils in a high-scoring draw last year in a match dominated by Jimmy Anderson’s comeback for the home side.

Derbyshire then take an 11-day break before Gloucestershire visit Derby when the home side will hope for a repeat of the nine wicket win at the start of 2025 when Luis Reece took ten wickets in the match and Wayne Madsen scored a century.

Derbyshire then take to the road again for a trip to the south of England and a return visit to Canterbury where they trounced Kent by an innings and 229 runs in September thanks to Reece’s 211 and Madsen’s 198 before Reece rounded the season off with final day figures of five for 63.

Northamptonshire will be the next visitors to Derby. In 2025 the two sides produced a match aggregate of over 1,000 runs for only 21 wickets before rain ruled out the possibility of play on the final day thus drawing a line under what could have been a fascinating conclusion.

The final game of the opening Championship salvo of six will take Derbyshire to the Home of Cricket, Lord’s. The sides’ game at the famous old ground last September was another hit by the weather and a draw was the only outcome once more than the equivalent of a full days’ play had been lost.

On Friday 22nd May, Vitality Blast cricket begins and Derbyshire will host Durham at Derby, the first of five games in a ten day period.

Derbyshire’s North Group contains six sides, the others being Durham, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. However, Derbyshire will also play one game at home and one away from two different sides from another group. In 2026 these two counties are Essex and Somerset.

Headingley and Leicester are the next two destinations before Notts Outlaws arrive at Derby for one of Derbyshire’s biggest games of the summer in front of what is likely to be a sell-out crowd.

Two days later, in an innovative move designed to attract more interest in the shortest format of the game, Derbyshire will play Essex at Chelmsford, only the second time the two sides have met in The Blast, having faced off in the semi-final at Edgbaston in 2019.

Following a week without any first team cricket, Derbyshire conclude the first half of their Blast fixtures with a trip down the A52 to face Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge hoping for a repeat of their 46-runs win in 2025.

As midsummer approaches, Championship cricket returns with an away game against Durham at Chester-le-Street, Derbyshire’s first visit in this format for three years following Durham’s dramatic final-day collapse which saw them relegated from the first division after two seasons back in the top flight.

The BRM Chesterfield Festival of Cricket then takes centre-stage for Derbyshire with Lancashire once again providing attractive opposition in the four day game at Queen’s Park.

Completing the red rose / white rose double, Yorkshire’s visit for the Vitality Blast game will surely attract yet another capacity crowd as Derbyshire will be seeking a remarkable ninth consecutive T20 win over Yorkshire on this famous old ground.

The final five group games then take place over the next 12 days as Derbyshire firstly travel to Old Trafford to face Lancashire Lightning before welcoming Somerset to The Central Co-op County Ground.

This will be only Derbyshire’s second T20 game against Somerset, and their first in the group stages, having lost a quarter final at Taunton in 2022.

The final couple of games are at Chester-le-Street against Durham before the group stage concludes at Derby when Leicestershire Foxes will provide the opposition.

The quarter finals take place three days later with Finals Day a further three days afterwards, at Edgbaston, as usual.

The format changes once again on 21st July with the launch of the Metro Bank One Day Cup. The competition is unchanged with eight group matches beginning with Durham at Derby ahead of two away games over the weekend against Worcestershire at Worcester on the Friday and Essex at Chelmsford on Sunday.

Derbyshire will be hoping for a repeat of the last time they played these two counties away from home in one day cricket; both instances were in 2022 when Derbyshire won by 47 runs at Chelmsford and by 92 runs at Chelmsford.

Derbyshire will then welcome Glamorgan to Repton after the school successfully hosted Worcestershire in the same competition last summer. This will be the first time since 1997 (Chesterfield) that Derbyshire have faced Glamorgan in one day cricket in Derbyshire at anywhere other than The County Ground, Derby.

Sussex will be next up at Derby where they lost by eight wickets in 2023 when Harry Came (94) and Luis Reece (92) set up Derbyshire’s comprehensive win.

Derbyshire then travel to the coastal resort of Scarborough to play Yorkshire for the first time there in a one day game for 11 years, returning to Derby for the final home fixture, against Middlesex.

The most recent game against Middlesex – also at Derby in 2024 – saw the home side romp home by nine wickets as Harry Came’s unbeaten 113 dominated proceedings.

The group stage games will be completed at The Utilita Bowl, Southampton where Hampshire will provide the opposition for the third successive year in this format.

The following five days will see the quarter and semi-finals staged well ahead of the final which is to be hosted by Trent Bridge on 20th September.

It’s then full steam ahead towards the end of the season with six County Championship games. The first two are in the second half of August at Derby when Durham and then Middlesex will be the visitors.

Four games are scheduled in September, against Gloucestershire at Bristol, Kent at Derby, Northamptonshire at Northampton and finally, against Worcestershire at New Road.

Derbyshire and Gloucestershire shared the spoils in a thrilling draw at Nevil Road last year, while Kent were beaten by an innings at Derby thanks to Caleb Jewell’s 232.

Derbyshire’s most recent win at Wantage Road – by one wicket – came in 2018, while their last win at Worcester in 2022 was dominated by Anuj Dal who scored 55 and 112 not out and took one for 35 and five for 40 in his sides’ 98-run victory.

With more than 100 days to go before the action begins, and a winter to endure (or enjoy), the sight of the fixtures at least offers all Derbyshire supporters some comfort that next season is around the corner.