# Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1946

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1946 represents the first cricket season after a six-year break from first class cricket during World War II. The English club Derbyshire had been playing for seventy five years. It was their forty-second season in the County Championship and they won five matches and lost thirteen to finish fifteenth (two from bottom) in the County Championship.

## 1946 season

On the resumption of county cricket after the second world war in 1946 the main problem affecting Derbyshire was that of finding a regular captain. The convention was that the captain be an amateur and usually no one was available for more than one year. Gilbert Hodgkinson filled the role in 1946 and they made a poor re-entry to the County Championship .
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1947 edition), in its review of the 1946 season, remarked that "the weather in 1946 might have been dreadful, but it didn't stop the crowds flocking to games".
Derbyshire began their season with a tour of Ireland. They played 26 games in the County Championship, and one match against the touring Indians. They won five matches altogether, and these wins came in a bright patch in the middle of the season. Denis Smith was top scorer and Cliff Gladwin took most wickets with 102. Pat Vaulkhard and Denis Smith's 4th wicket partnership of 328 against Nottinghamshire remains a record for the county.
The club retained a nucleus of pre-war players, and Pat Vaulkhard, a future captain, had previously played for Nottinghamshire. Alan Revill, Eric Marsh, John Eggar and Roy Genders all began their first-class career during the season, although some had already played for the club in miscellaneous matches during the war. England footballer Raich Carter turned out for Derbyshire at cricket. However newcomers Walter Fullwood and Jack Pearson did not play beyond the end of the season, and John Tomlinson only played one match for the club in 1946.

### Matches

List of matches :
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| 1 | 15 May 1946 | Leicestershire County Ground, Derby | Lost | 7 wickets | T S Worthington 147; Berry 121; Watson 108; Walsh 5-45 |
| 2 | 18 May 1946 | Essex Valentine's Park, Ilford | Lost | 8 wickets | Pearce 124; CS Elliott 120; T Smith 5-34 |
| 3 | 25 May 1946 | Kent Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Drawn | | W H Copson 5-26 |
| 4 | 29 May 1946 | Hampshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Lost | 7 wickets | Dean 7-51 |
| 5 | 01 Jun 1946 | Middlesex Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood | Drawn | | |
| 6 | 08 Jun 1946 | Warwickshire County Ground, Derby | Drawn | | C Gladwin 7-41 |
| 7 | 12 Jun 1946 | Worcestershire Amblecote, Stourbridge | Lost | Innings and 2 runs | P Jackson 5-29 and 5-57 |
| 8 | 15 Jun 1946 | Northamptonshire County Ground, Northampton | Drawn | | C Gladwin 5-45 |
| 9 | 19 Jun 1946 | Surrey Kennington Oval | Drawn | | Watts 6-31 |
| 10 | 22 Jun 1946 | Lancashire Park Road Ground, Buxton | Lost | Innings and 110 runs | C Gladwin 6-62; Garlick 6-27 |
| 11 | 29 Jun 1946 | Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Lost | 4 wickets | W Bowes 5-56; T R Armstrong 5-32 |
| 12 | 03 Jul 1946 | Surrey County Ground, Derby | Won | 2 wickets | D Smith 140; L Fishlock 151; Bedser 5-65 |
| 13 | 06 Jul 1946 | Leicestershire Bath Grounds, Ashby-de-la-Zouch | Lost | 162 runs | V Jackson 5-43 |
| 14 | 10 Jul 1946 | Indian cricket team in England in 1946 Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Lost | 118 runs | Nawab of Pataudi 113; AEG Rhodes 5-135 |
| 15 | 13 Jul 1946 | Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester | Lost | 9 wickets | Pollard 5-78; C Gladwin 7-108 |
| 16 | 20 Jul 1946 | Sussex Abbeydale Park, Sheffield | Won | 2 wickets | C Gladwin 5-50; W H Copson 6-49 |
| 17 | 24 Jul 1946 | Hampshire At County Ground, Southampton | Won | 6 wickets | Hill 100; A E Alderman 101; C Gladwin 6-39 |
| 18 | 27 Jul 1946 | Nottinghamshire Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston | Drawn | | Harris 122; Voce 114 and 5-92; |
| 19 | 31 Jul 1946 | Glamorgan Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Won | Innings and 21 runs | W H Copson 5-29; AEG Rhodes 5-35 |
| 20 | 03 Aug 1946 | Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham | Won | 5 wickets | Dollery 113; A F Townsend 105; Hollies 6-94; AEG Rhodes 5-86 |
| 21 | 07 Aug 1946 | Glamorgan Cardiff Arms Park | Lost | Innings and 115 runs | Robinson 117; AEG Rhodes 7-109; Judge 7-23 |
| 22 | 10 Aug 1946 | Worcestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield | Abandoned | | |
| 23 | 14 Aug 1946 | Northamptonshire County Ground, Derby | Lost | 7 wickets | W H Copson 5-68 |
| 24 | 17 Aug 1946 | Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham | Drawn | | P Vaulkhard 264; D Smith 146; C Gladwin 5-58 |
| 25 | 21 Aug 1946 | Kent Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover | Lost | 8 wickets | Wright 6-39 |
| 26 | 24 Aug 1946 | Gloucestershire County Ground, Derby | Lost | 81 runs | S Cook 6-54 |
| 27 | 28 Aug 1946 | Somerset Agricultural Showgrounds, Frome | Drawn | | Hazell 6-51; W H Copson 5-37 |

## Statistics
### County Championship batting averages

| Name | Matches | Inns | Runs | High score | Average | 100s |
| D Smith | 24 | 42 | 1391 | 146 | 35.66 | 2 |
| A F Townsend | 24 | 42 | 1137 | 105 | 27.73 | 1 |
| CS Elliott | 24 | 44 | 846 | 120 | 20.63 | 1 |
| P Vaulkhard | 13 | 20 | 634 | 264 | 31.70 | 1 |
| T S Worthington | 16 | 27 | 539 | 147* | 20.73 | 1 |
| AC Revill | 22 | 38 | 534 | 61 | 16.18 | 0 |
| AEG Rhodes | 25 | 39 | 508 | 63 | 13.72 | 0 |
| A E Alderman | 14 | 24 | 503 | 101 | 22.86 | 1 |
| C Gladwin | 25 | 42 | 488 | 61* | 15.25 | 0 |
| GF Hodgkinson | 14 | 23 | 351 | 41 | 15.26 | 0 |
| FE Marsh | 15 | 25 | 229 | 24 | 13.47 | 0 |
| W H Copson | 24 | 33 | 98 | 18* | 4.26 | 0 |
| JD Eggar | 3 | 5 | 171 | 86 | 34.20 | 0 |
| H Pope | 8 | 12 | 67 | 24* | 6.70 | 0 |
| WR Genders | 3 | 6 | 62 | 24 | 12.40 | 0 |
| W Fullwood | 6 | 10 | 41 | 13 | 4.55 | 0 |
| T R Armstrong | 5 | 9 | 37 | 10* | 9.25 | 0 |
| LI Pearson | 2 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 6.00 | 0 |
| HS Carter | 3 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 2.00 | 0 |
| DB Carr | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1.20 | 0 |
| JDW Tomlinson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 |

### County Championship bowling averages

| Name | Balls | Runs | Wickets | BB | Average |
| C Gladwin | 4695 | 1812 | 102 | 7-41 | 17.76 |
| W H Copson | 4614 | 1836 | 91 | 6-49 | 20.17 |
| AEG Rhodes | 4068 | 2010 | 69 | 7-109 | 29.13 |
| T R Armstrong | 1122 | 493 | 28 | 5-32 | 17.60 |
| FE Marsh | 1085 | 591 | 16 | 3-31 | 36.93 |
| DB Carr | 424 | 181 | 9 | 3-43 | 20.11 |
| H Pope | 837 | 420 | 9 | 2-86 | 46.66 |
| CS Elliott | 492 | 278 | 6 | 2-25 | 46.33 |
| AC Revill | 321 | 131 | 3 | 3-13 | 43.66 |
| T S Worthington | 660 | 279 | 3 | 2-24 | 93.00 |
| HS Carter | 90 | 46 | 2 | 2-39 | 23.00 |
| JD Eggar | 186 | 86 | 0 |
| WR Genders | 18 | 22 | 0 |

## Wicket Keepers

* D Smith Catches 32, Stumping 4
* W Fullwood Catches 5, Stumping 1
* P Vaulkhard Catches 15, Stumping 1