Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1954

Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons
	1954 season
Captain	Guy Willatt
County Championship	3
Most runs	Arnold Hamer
Most wickets	Cliff Gladwin
Most catches	George Dawkes
← 1953	1955 →

Last updated March 24, 2019

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1954 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for eighty-four years. It was their fiftieth season in the County Championship and they won eleven matches in the County Championship to finish in third place.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each player. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When ten players have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who record the match's statistical information.

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falcons in reference to the famous peregrine falcon which nests on the Derby Cathedral. Founded in 1870, the club held first-class status from its first match in 1871 until 1887. Because of poor performances and lack of fixtures in some seasons, Derbyshire then lost its status for seven seasons until it was invited into the County Championship in 1895. Derbyshire is also classified as a List A team since the beginning of limited overs cricket in 1963; and classified as a senior Twenty20 team since 2003. In recent years the club has enjoyed record attendances with over 24,000 people watching their home Twenty20 fixtures in 2017 – a record for a single campaign. The local derby versus Yorkshire at Chesterfield now regularly sells out in advance.

The County Championship, currently known as the Specsavers County Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It became an official title in 1890. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England and one from Wales. From 2016, the Championship has been sponsored by Specsavers, who replaced Liverpool Victoria after 14 years.

1954 season

Derbyshire played 28 games in the County Championship, one match against Scotland, and one against the touring Pakistanis. In a successful season, they won twelve first class matches altogether. Guy Willatt was in his fourth season as captain. Arnold Hamer was top scorer and Cliff Gladwin took most wickets.

The Pakistani cricket team toured England in the 1954 season. The team played four Test matches against England, winning one, losing one and drawing two. These were the first Test matches played between the two sides. In winning the fourth and final Test, Pakistan became the first side to win a Test on its inaugural tour of England.

Guy Longfield Willatt was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University from 1938 to 1947, for Nottinghamshire from 1939 to 1948, for Scotland from 1948 to 1950 and for Derbyshire from 1950 to 1956. He was captain of Derbyshire from 1951 to 1954 and also played for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Arnold Hamer was a first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire in 1938, and for Derbyshire between 1950 and 1960, scoring over 15,000 runs in first-class cricket. He also played as a footballer, playing eight games for York City in 1938.

Two players made their debut in the season. Gerald Wyatt played one game and then appeared intermittently over the next few years. Charles Lee went on to score over 12,000 runs and became captain ten years later.

Gerald Wyatt was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire on various occasions between 1954 and 1960.

Charles Lee was an English first-class cricketer, who played two matches for Yorkshire in 1952, one for the Minor Counties in 1953, and 268 matches for Derbyshire between 1954 and 1964. He captained Derbyshire in his last two seasons in the game, and scored over 12,000 runs for the club.

Matches

List of matches
No.	Date	V	Result	Margin	Notes
1	8 May 1954 ^[1]	Leicestershire County Ground, Derby	Won	7 wickets	Tompkin 112; Spencer 6-64; HL Jackson 6-43
2	12 May 1954 ^[2]	Kent Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend	Won	81 runs	Wright 7/62; GL Willatt 103; Evans 109; E Smith 6-60; C Gladwin 5-22
3	15 May 1954 ^[3]	Essex Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea	Won	5 wickets	Horsfall 117; A Hamer 104; C Gladwin 5-79
4	19 May 1954 ^[4]	Hampshire County Ground, Southampton	Lost	4 wickets	Dare 5-49; E Smith 5-44
5	22 May 1954 ^[5]	Essex Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Lost	6 wickets	C Gladwin 8-50
6	29 May 1954 ^[6]	Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester	Drawn		Hilton 7-51
7	2 Jun 1954 ^[7]	Scotland Park Road Ground, Buxton	Won	5 wickets	Cosh 99; Youngson 6-84;
8	5 Jun 1954 ^[8]	Warwickshire County Ground, Derby	Drawn		Bannister 5-99
9	12 Jun 1954 ^[9]	Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn		Lester 121; Appleyard 6-71; E Smith 5-37
10	16 Jun 1954 ^[10]	Surrey County Ground, Derby	Lost	10 wickets	C Gladwin 6-75; Bedser 5-22
11	19 Jun 1954 ^[11]	Glamorgan Cardiff Arms Park	Won	5 runs	Hedges 103; Jones 104; Shepherd 5-45; HL Jackson 6-24; C Gladwin 8-114
12	26 Jun 1954 ^[12]	Lancashire Park Road Ground, Buxton	Won	169 runs	HL Jackson 6-33
13	30 Jun 1954 ^[13]	Kent Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	7 wickets	HL Jackson 6-40
14	3 Jul 1954 ^[14]	Sussex Cricket Field Road Ground, Horsham	Won	76 runs	James 5-31; HL Jackson 5-30
15	7 Jul 1954 ^[15]	Pakistan County Ground, Derby	Drawn		AC Revill 101; Ahmed 5-53; DC Morgan 5-57
16	10 Jul 1954 ^[16]	Somerset Johnson Park, Yeovil	Won	10 wickets	Tremlett 5-31; HL Jackson 5-17
17	14 Jul 1954 ^[17]	Hampshire Ind Coope Ground, Burton-on-Trent	Drawn		Harrison 114; JM Kelly 116; GO Dawkes 143; HL Jackson 7-64; Cannings 7-132
18	17 Jul 1954 ^[18]	Worcestershire County Ground, New Road, Worcester	Lost	4 wickets
19	21 Jul 1954 ^[19]	Sussex County Ground, Derby	Drawn		A Hamer 118; GL Willatt 101
20	24 Jul 1954 ^[20]	Nottinghamshire Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston	Drawn		C Gladwin 6-114
21	28 Jul 1954 ^[21]	Yorkshire Headingley, Leeds	Won	6 wickets	A Hamer 147; Trueman 6-109; DC Morgan 5-23 and 5-55
22	31 Jul 1954 ^[22]	Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham	Drawn		HL Jackson 5-28
23	4 Aug 1954 ^[23]	Gloucestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Lost	60 runs	Graveney 222; McHugh 5-82; E Smith 5-42
24	7 Aug 1954 ^[24]	Northamptonshire Wellingborough School Ground	Drawn
25	11 Aug 1954 ^[25]	Gloucestershire College Ground, Cheltenham	Won	Innings and 52 runs	C Gladwin 5-24
26	14 Aug 1954 ^[26]	Worcestershire County Ground, Derby	Won	9 wickets	Flavell 5-53
27	18 Aug 1954 ^[27]	Middlesex Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn
28	21 Aug 1954 ^[28]	Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Drawn
29	25 Aug 1954 ^[29]	Leicestershire Grace Road, Leicester	Drawn		Walsh 5-65
30	28 Aug 1954 ^[30]	Glamorgan Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Lost	10 wickets	Wooller 5-45; Watkins 7-28

Statistics

County Championship batting averages

Name	Matches	Inns	Runs	High score	Average	100s
A Hamer	28	46	1445	147*	34.40	3
GL Willatt	28	43	1115	103	27.87	2
C Lee	3	5	108	61	27.00	0
JM Kelly	28	46	1086	116	24.68	1
AEG Rhodes	3	3	72	46	24.00	0
AC Revill	28	43	971	90	22.58	0
DB Carr	28	44	832	86	22.48	0
GO Dawkes	28	41	788	143	21.88	1
DC Morgan	25	34	630	75	20.32	0
C Gladwin	28	35	368	40	16.00	0
JD Eggar	2	2	25	21	12.50	0
A Eato	5	7	55	23*	11.00	0
DJ Green	6	8	66	25	9.42	0
R Sale	2	3	27	16	9.00	0
HL Jackson	28	29	151	26*	7.94	0
E Smith	28	31	155	22	7.75	0
G Wyatt	1	2	6	3*	6.00	0
R Carter	9	12	49	12	4.90	0 ^[31]

County Championship bowling averages

Name	Balls	Runs	Wickets	BB	Average
C Gladwin	6318	2175	131	8-50	16.60
HL Jackson	5448	1786	120	7-64	14.88
E Smith	3277	1294	64	6-60	20.21
DC Morgan	3250	1191	56	5-23	21.26
A Eato	474	158	12	4-18	13.16
A Hamer	400	211	10	3-27	21.10
R Carter	552	282	9	2-27	31.33
DB Carr	445	239	3	1-17	79.66
GL Willatt	37	36	1	1-2	36.00
AC Revill	114	56	0
JM Kelly	60	36	0
DJ Green	12	1	0
JD Eggar	12	4	0 ^[32]

Wicket Keepers

George Dawkes Catches 51, Stumping 9

References

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[1] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Leicestershire 8 May 1954

[2] Cricket Archive - Kent v Derbyshire 12 May 1954

[3] Cricket Archive - Essex v Derbyshire 15 May 1954

[4] Cricket Archive - Hampshire v Derbyshire 19 May 1954

[5] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Essex 22 May 1954

[6] Cricket Archive - Lancashire v Derbyshire 29 May 1954

[7] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Scotland 2 Jun 1954

[8] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Warwickshire 5 Jun 1954

[9] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Yorkshire 12 Jun 1954

[10] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Surrey 16 Jun 1954

[11] Cricket Archive - Glamorgan v Derbyshire 19 Jun 1954

[12] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Lancashire 26 Jun 1954

[13] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Kent 30 Jun 1954

[14] Cricket Archive - Sussex v Derbyshire 3 Jul 1954

[15] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Pakistan 7 Jul 1954

[16] Cricket Archive - Somerset v Derbyshire 10 Jul 1954

[17] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Hampshire 14 Jul 1954

[18] Cricket Archive - Worcestershire v Derbyshire 17 Jul 1954

[19] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Sussex 21 Jul 1954

[20] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire 24 Jul 1954

[21] Cricket Archive - Yorkshire v Derbyshire 28 Jul 1954

[22] Cricket Archive - Warwickshire v Derbyshire 31 Jul 1954

[23] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Gloucestershire 4 Aug 1954

[24] Cricket Archive - Northamptonshire v Derbyshire 7 Aug 1954

[25] Cricket Archive - Gloucestershire v Derbyshire 11 Aug 1954

[26] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Worcestershire 14 Aug 1954

[27] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Middlesex 18 Aug 1954

[28] Cricket Archive - Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire 21 Aug 1954

[29] Cricket Archive - Leicestershire v Derbyshire 25 Aug 1954

[30] Cricket Archive - Derbyshire v Glamorgan 28 Aug 1954

[31] Batting and Fielding for Derbyshire County Championship 1954

[32] Bowling for Derbyshire County Championship 1954