Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1939

Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons
1939 season
Captain	Robin Buckston
County Championship	9
Most runs	Denis Smith
Most wickets	Bill Copson
Most catches	Harry Elliott
← 1938	1946 →

Last updated October 18, 2025

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1939 was the last cricket season before World War II, when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for sixty-eight years. It was their forty first season in the County Championship and they won ten matches in the Championship, to finish ninth.

1939 season

Derbyshire played 28 matches in the County Championship, one against Oxford University and one against the touring West Indians. They won eleven matches altogether, ten in the County Championship. Robin Buckston was in his third season as captain. Denis Smith scored most runs and Bill Copson took most wickets.

Nearly all the players had been members of the 1936 championship winning team and the only player to make his debut was Cliff Gladwin whose low scores and failure to take a wicket gave little inkling that he would turn out to be Derbyshire's main wicket-taker in the years after World War II.

Matches

List of matches
No.	Date	V	Result	Margin	Notes
1	10 May 1939 ^[1]	Oxford University The University Parks, Oxford	Won	163 runs	W H Copson 5-12 and 5-9; Pether 5-7; A V Pope 5-30
2	13 May 1939 ^[2]	Surrey Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn		Gregory 5-46; W H Copson 5-47
3	20 May 1939 ^[3]	Northamptonshire County Ground, Derby	Won	10 wickets
4	27 May 1939 ^[4]	Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham	Lost	71 runs	Dollery 177; W H Copson 5-47; Hollies 6-48 and 5-79; T. B. Mitchell 5-112
5	31 May 1939 ^[5]	Kent Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston	Won	5 wickets	W H Copson 5-39;
6	03 Jun 1939 ^[6]	Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester	Lost	Innings and 105 runs	Paynter 222; Phillipson 5-38
7	07 Jun 1939 ^[7]	Worcestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	315 runs	D Smith 123; A V Pope6-47
8	10 Jun 1939 ^[8]	West Indies County Ground, Derby	Drawn		W H Copson 6-73
9	14 Jun 1939 ^[9]	Surrey Woodbridge Road, Guildford	Won	Innings and 43 runs	Parker 6-34; A V Pope 6-44; G H Pope 5-46
10	17 Jun 1939 ^[10]	Lancashire Park Road Ground, Buxton	Drawn		T S Worthington 101
11	21 Jun 1939 ^[11]	Leicestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	9 wickets	H Smith 5-64; L F Townsend 5-45
12	24 Jun 1939 ^[12]	Yorkshire Bramall Lane, Sheffield	Lost	276 runs	Barber 100; G H Pope 6-44; Smurthwaite 5-7; Smailes 10-47
13	28 Jun 1939 ^[13]	Sussex County Ground, Derby	Lost	13 runs	T S Worthington 119; W H Copson 6-64; Duffield 5-38; Langridge 3-5 Langridge scored a hat-trick
14	01 Jul 1939 ^[14]	Essex Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	10 wickets	W H Copson 6-57; Stephenson 6-41
15	08 Jul 1939 ^[15]	Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Drawn		T. B. Mitchell 5-70
16	12 Jul 1939 ^[16]	Middlesex County Ground, Derby	Won	6 wickets	W H Copson 7-39
17	15 Jul 1939 ^[17]	Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn
18	19 Jul 1939 ^[18]	Worcestershire Tipton Road, Dudley	Drawn		D Smith 132
19	22 Jul 1939 ^[19]	Somerset County Ground, Derby	Drawn		Buse 5-76; G H Pope 5-59; T. B. Mitchell 5-66; Andrews 5-45
20	26 Jul 1939 ^[20]	Middlesex Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood	Lost	Innings and 24 runs	Denis Compton 214; Sims 8-32 and 5-128
21	29 Jul 1939 ^[21]	Kent Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend	Lost	171 runs	Ames 159; Todd 106; Harding 5-56
22	02 Aug 1939 ^[22]	Gloucestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn		Scott 7-63; T. B. Mitchell 6-71
23	05 Aug 1939 ^[23]	Warwickshire Ind Coope Ground, Burton-on-Trent	Drawn		Grove 5-78
24	09 Aug 1939 ^[24]	Northamptonshire County Ground, Northampton	Drawn		Brookes 101; G H Pope 6-38
25	12 Aug 1939 ^[25]	Essex Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea	Lost	Innings and 31 runs	Nichols 6-18 and 5-26; Farnes 5-52
26	16 Aug 1939 ^[26]	Gloucestershire College Ground, Cheltenham	Won	1 run	W H Copson 5-45;A V Pope 5-25; Lambert 6-69; T. B. Mitchell 5-75
27	19 Aug 1939 ^[27]	Nottinghamshire Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston	Won	147 runs	G H Pope 121
28	23 Aug 1939 ^[28]	Sussex The Saffrons, Eastbourne	Lost	Innings and 39 runs	T. B. Mitchell 8-149 Nye 5-49
29	26 Aug 1939 ^[29]	Somerset County Ground, Taunton	Won	7 wickets	A F Townsend 142; Buse 8-41
30	30 Aug 1939 ^[30]	Leicestershire Aylestone Road, Leicester	Drawn		Sperry 7-48; W H Copson 6-39

Statistics

County Championship batting averages

Name	Matches	Inns	Runs	High score	Average	100s
G H Pope	28	46	1397	121	34.07	1
D Smith	28	51	1468	132	31.91	2
T S Worthington	24	40	1036	119	28.77	2
A E Alderman	28	48	1138	91	25.86	0
A V Pope	28	41	768	65	21.94
A F Townsend	11	21	400	142*	21.05	1
L F Townsend	22	33	647	92	20.87	0
AEG Rhodes	26	39	468	72	12.64	0
TD Hounsfield	13	19	179	36	11.18	0
RHR Buckston	17	27	236	33	10.26	0
T R Armstrong	2	10	8*	10.00	0
H Elliott	25	36	244	25	9.76	0
W H Copson	26	34	206	26	7.92	0
C Gladwin	4	7	53	16	7.57	0
T. B. Mitchell	26	35	172	27	6.14	0

^[31]

County Championship bowling averages

Name	Balls	Runs	Wickets	BB	Average
W H Copson	4404	1856	109	7-39	17.02
A V Pope	4301	1734	86	6-44	20.16
T. B. Mitchell	2744	1728	80	8-149	21.60
G H Pope	3332	1474	78	6-38	18.89
AEG Rhodes	976	477	25	3-14	19.08
L F Townsend	580	245	8	5-45	30.62
D Smith	24	10	1	1-10	10.00
T R Armstrong	88	54	0
C Gladwin	144	78	0 ^[32]

Wicket Keeper

Harry Elliott Catches 48, Stumping 11
Albert Alderman Catches 17, Stumping 1

References

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[1] Cricket Archive - Oxford University v Derbyshire 10 May 1939

[2] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Surrey 13 May 1939

[3] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Northamptonshire 20 May 1939

[4] Cricket Archive - Warwickshire v Derbyshire 27 May 1939

[5] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Kent 31 May 1939

[6] Cricket Archive - Lancashire v Derbyshire 03 Jun 1939

[7] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Worcestershire 07 Jun 1939

[8] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v West Indians 10 Jun 1939

[9] Cricket Archive - Surrey v Derbyshire 14 Jun 1939

[10] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Lancashire 17 Jun 1939

[11] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Leicestershire 21 Jun 1939

[12] Cricket Archive - Yorkshire v Derbyshire 24 Jun 1939

[13] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Sussex 28 Jun 1939

[14] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Essex 01 Jul 1939

[15] Cricket Archive - Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire 08 Jul 1939

[16] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Middlesex 12 Jul 1939

[17] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Yorkshire 15 Jul 1939

[18] Cricket Archive - Worcestershire v Derbyshire 19 Jul 1939

[19] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Somerset 22 Jul 1939

[20] Cricket Archive - Middlesex v Derbyshire 26 Jul 1939

[21] Cricket Archive - Kent v Derbyshire 29 Jul 1939

[22] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Gloucestershire 02 Aug 1939

[23] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Warwickshire 05 Aug 1939

[24] Cricket Archive - Northamptonshire v Derbyshire 09 Aug 1939

[25] Cricket Archive - Essex v Derbyshire 12 Aug 1939

[26] Cricket Archive - Gloucestershire v Derbyshire 16 Aug 1939

[27] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire 19 Aug 1939

[28] Cricket Archive - Sussex v Derbyshire 23 Aug 1939

[29] Cricket Archive - Somerset v Derbyshire 26 Aug 1939

[30] Cricket Archive - Leicestershire v Derbyshire 30 Aug 1939

[31] Batting and Fielding for Derbyshire County Championship 1939

[32] Bowling for Derbyshire County Championship 1939

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