MATCH PREVIEW: Durham (H)

Derbyshire resume red ball cricket after a break of 59 days with a home fixture against Durham at The OurCoop County Ground, Derby.

Heritage Officer David Griffin previews the match.

Durham arrive at Derby as the current leaders in the second division of the County Championship with Derbyshire seeking to avenge their innings defeat at Chester-le-Street in June.

Although Derbyshire were outplayed in that game, Harry Came scored a defiant 105 not out in the second innings, carrying his bat in the process; the first Derbyshire player to perform this feat against Durham and only the 40^th example in the club’s history.

These two counites have met 36 times with Derbyshire winning just six and Durham 15 with 15 draws. The last game at Derby was a high scoring draw in 2023 and the last positive result between the two sides at Derby saw the home side win by 125 runs in 2019.

There have been 21 hundreds scored against Durham in first class matches including three doubles. Michael Di Venuto scored four centuries, the highlight of which was a majestic 203 at Derby in 2005, but for sheer quality Mohammad Azharuddin’s 205 at Chesterfield in 1994 – in a losing cause – surely ranks at the top of the list, not just numerically.

Azharuddin had excelled in his first spell at Derbyshire, scoring over 2,000 first class runs in 1991, a feat only achieved three times in the club’s history. A sublime cricketer, he evoked memories of those other overseas batting greats, Barlow, Kirsten and Wright, dominating attacks just as they had done and looking every inch the world class Test player.

Against Durham in 1994 he batted beautifully, finding gaps in the field that others could not, and hitting six sixes, all off the bowling of left arm spinner David Graveney, two of which bounced into the lake. Later in the season, Brian Lara would score a hundred before lunch on the same ground for Warwickshire against Derbyshire.

At the time, Lara was widely acknowledged as the world’s finest, but few present to witness both innings were able to differentiate between the two in terms of quality.

For sheer bravura, however, Dominic Cork’s unbeaten 200 at Derby in 2000 was remarkable. Derbyshire were all out for 167 by mid-afternoon on the opening day of the game, Cork scoring 45 off 53 balls, and were batting again by the close as Kevin Dean (six for 52) bowled superbly to dismiss Durham for 144.

On the second day the regular fall of wickets continued as Derbyshire stumbled to 121 for six before Cork – batting at number eight – joined Matthew Dowman at the crease.

At tea, the score was 240 for six and they were still batting together at the end of the day, both having reached their centuries and giving Derbyshire a lead of 369.

On the third morning Derbyshire’s spectators were treated to some splendid striking as the seventh wicket partnership stretched to 258, a new record which remains as the highest in the club’s history for that wicket.

In just 82 minutes Derbyshire added 130 runs, with Cork scoring 95 of them off 63 balls with a further 15 fours and three sixes.

His 200 not out (32 fours and three sixes) remains the highest score by a Derbyshire number eight, and only thirteen higher scores have been made batting at number eight in the history of the game worldwide.

Typically, with Durham in pursuit of 500 to win, Cork took a wicket with the first ball of their second innings before Dean (three for 49) and Tim Munton (three for 44) did the bulk of the damage leaving Derbyshire emphatic winners by 232 runs.

Among the current squad, in addition to Came, Reece has scored two hundreds against Durham, as has Brooke Guest who made 197 at Derby in 2023, the second highest individual score by a Derbyshire wicketkeeper, although Leus du Plooy is the only player to register a hundred in each innings of a match against Durham.

The record partnership for any wicket is 272 for the third between Di Venuto and Hasan Adnan at Derby in 2005; Dowman and Cork added 258 for the seventh wicket in 2000 while the other partnership worth more than 200 came at Chester-le-Street in 2022 when Guest and du Plooy combined to add 248 for the fifth wicket.

Derbyshire’s bowlers have taken five wickets in an innings 22 times against Durham with Cork doing it three times, the most, although the best innings figures are Ben Aitchison’s six for 28 at Derby in 2021, with Kevin Dean’s ten for 105 the best match analysis at Chester-le-Street in 2001.

Cork – at Derby in 2002 – and Duanne Olivier – at Chester-le-Street in 2018 –  also took ten wickets in a match.

Durham’s highest individual score against Derbyshire is David Bedingham’s 257 at Chester-le-Street in 2021. With the ball, the best innings figures are eight for 66 by Matthew Potts earlier this season at Chester-le-Street, while the best at Derby are six for 46 by Mark Wood in 2018.