The Jewel in Derbyshire’s Crown

Martin Chandler | 9:09am BST 18 August 2024

Published: 2024
Pages: 240
Author: Griffin, David
Publisher: Friends of Queen's Park Cricket
Rating: 3.5 stars

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and on the subject of cricket grounds that is as true as it is anywhere else. For many of us most venues that host the summer game are an attraction, but even we must accept that some are locations of greater beauty than others.

As to the question of which ground is the finest that is a frequently held debate. The larger stadiums are at a disadvantage here as the stands, substantial pavilions and media centres do not help. Every time I walk through the gates into Lord’s the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but for all its remarkable atmosphere and tradition it is not what I would call a beautiful ground.

As a consequence some of the most beautiful cricket grounds are so precisely because there are no, or next to no architectural aspects at all. The simple village green is a delightful setting for a game of cricket, as are grounds set in natural bowls, or otherwise adjacent to stunning natural or geographical features.

And amongst the county grounds? Naturally there is no consensus, but if you ask players or lovers of the county game which are the most beautiful they have seen the two answers that crop up most often are the County Ground in Worcester, and Queens Park in Chesterfield, the latter well known for being overlooked by the crooked spire of St Mary’s Church, although it is the lines of trees that surround the ground that are its most stunning feature.

Queen’s Park is an outground, Derbyshire’s home being the rather more prosaic County Ground in the city of Derby itself. That said in years gone by the county would visit Chesterfield up to six times each summer for First Class fixtures until, for the slightly ridiculous reason of ‘inadequate facilities’ the ground stopped hosting games in 1998. That decision was reversed, and the county came back in 2006 although with the relative paucity of county cricket that present day schedules permit Queen’s Park sees just a single Championship fixture each summer.

In terms of writing a history of the ground there have been 410 First Class matches played at Queen’s Park, all bar one of them involving Derbyshire. Oddly the one other fixture the ground hosted was between MCC and Sri Lanka during that eight year hiatus at the turn of this century. In terms of events on the field alone there is therefore plenty for Griffin to write about.

At this point it is worth mentioning that Griffin was on the Derbyshire committee for 15 years and has been the club’s official photographer for two decades. Steeped in the club’s history he has produced much more than just a series of match reports. There is no historical bias either, Griffin giving the same treatment to the distant past as he does to the many years over which he has watched much of the action that he describes.

The narrative is enhanced by the history of the club being intertwined amongst the match reports, as are the personalities of the many strong characters who have appeared for Derbyshire down the years. In terms of the matches themselves Griffin wisely concentrates on the most significant, thus the remarkable game against Essex in 1904 when visiting batsman Percy Perrin scored 343 yet still ended up on the losing side is fully described. Also dwelt on, unsurprisingly, are the 1930s and particularly 1936 when the county won the Championship for the first and still only time, and in doing so played at times with a side who were all born within the county.

There is the occasional lighter moment as well, one of the oddest being the match between Yorkshire and Derbyshire in 1946 which had to be restarted after two overs when it was discovered the pitch was two yards too long. It is a story I had heard before, and I remain baffled as to how it took as long as two overs for the players and umpires to work out what wasn’t quite right.

An important part of the book comes after the main narrative brings matters up to date, when Griffin hands over to a number of former players who take the opportunity to reflect on their experiences at and impressions of Queen’s Park. With the exception of Sir Geoffrey Boycott all are Derbyshire players, although their number include overseas stars Mohammad Azharuddin, Michael Holding, Peter Kirsten and, from the current squad, Wayne Madsen.

Without exception the players memories are fascinating, but the best of the lot is the contribution of Peter Gibbs who, with Derek Smith, formed an opening partnership known affectionately as ‘chip and block’. Gibbs has written one of the few decent pieces of cricket fiction and has written widely for television. His memory of an encounter with Fred Trueman leaves his reader in no doubt as to how entertaining an autobiography from Gibbs would be.

By virtue of its content The Jewel in Derbyshire’s Crown is doubtless going to sell best in the East Midlands, but it is an excellent book which should have a much greater appeal than that. It is recommended to all who are interested in the county game.