When two months ago I got up early on a cold, dull Sunday morning to drive to Derby to watch Derbyshire play Lancashire I completed the full set for the host county, for by my rules when Footitt bowled to Horton at 11:00 on April 19th I had seen Derbyshire in action against all other seventeen counties, a trail that had begun at The Saffrons, Eastbourne in 1983, just a twenty minute drive from my then home in Bexhill on Sea.
Sussex first played championship cricket at The Saffrons in 1897 when Middlesex were the visitors but Australia had played The South there a year earlier to begin over a hundred years of first class cricket at the ground. It this history began with a bang it ended with something of a whimper in 2000 when Northants spent time at the seaside for a second division championship match. Fifteen years on it is unlikely that first class cricket will return with Horsham and Arundel firmly installed as Sussex's out grounds.
Back to the 1980s, when cricket watchers at the east end of East Sussex were well served for in addition to seven days at Eastbourne, matches were still played at the wonderful ground at Hastings. Derbyshire were not infrequent visitors to The Saffrons, having played there just two years earlier and were to call three more times before stumps were drawn for the last time in 2000. In describing the 1983 match Wisden writes of 'spectators baking in hot sunshine on all three days (and) the tempo of play was hardly more hectic than on the neighbouring croquet lawn'. Indeed the almanac says that play did not come alive until the final hour when Derbyshire, seemingly coasting to victory, collapsed and the last pair Bob Taylor and Ole Mortensen were left hanging on to save the draw. The late damage for Sussex was done by Tony Pigott, a man perhaps better known for postponing his wedding the following year to play for England.
Top scorer in both innings for Derbyshire, captained by 22 year old Kim Barnett, was his opening partner Iain Anderson, sharing the new ball with Mortensen was Steve Oldham, and John Hampshire batted at five. Sussex were captained by JRT Barclay and included Imran Khan, the Wells brothers and 'Gunner' Gould in their XI. If the rather turgid cricket played on the 6th, 8th and 9th of August did not put you off then you could have returned on the 10th for another three days in which Hampshire won by three wickets with one ball left. Wisden remarks that 'The Saffrons' pitch, cause for such concern the previous season, was now greatly improved.' The scores in the match, Sussex 263 and 269 for 7 dec, Hants 250 for 6 dec and 285 for 7 suggest a perfect balance between bat and ball. Names in the visiting XI included Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge and Mark Nicholas and for Sussex there was a century by Imran. All that and sunshine too.
One other match which sticks out in my Derbyshire watching, and which provides a vivid contrast, meteorologically at least, was played two years later on the 14th of August 1985. at The Park, Buxton. Scheduled for three days, play lasted only an hour in which sixteen overs were bowled and Derbyshire lost three wickets for 25 runs before rain set in and washed out the match. Perhaps the only championship match for which I can say in all honesty I saw every ball bowled. Worcestershire were the visitors: the wickets were taken by Radford (2) and Weston, and the umpires were Dudleston and Kitchen. Geoff Miller was due in next for Derbyshire and The Pears included the late Damien D'Oliveira.
Undeterred Derbyshire returned to The Park the following year for a local derby with Lancashire, Buxton is about 25 miles from Manchester, but were only marginally more fortunate with the 'traditional Buxton weather' (Wisden) which washed out the second day and despite two declarations the game, which had a Dane* on each side ended in a draw, Fairbrother, Fowler and Mendis got runs for Lancashire and Maher and Hill for Derbyshire. Twenty wickets fell in the match, only one of which was lbw. One of the umpires was HD Bird, whether these two events are connected is not known but no doubt Dickie agonised over the conditions and was perhaps relieved that Derbyshire were never tempted to brave the Peak District climate again. The picture below shows that it does not always rain at The Park.
*Mortensen for Derbyshire and Soren Henriksen for Lancs, one of only three first class matches he played.
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