fell off, while the burden of debt and the deposition of the county from first-class rank seriously affected Derbyshire cricket. However, loyal supporters stuck to the county gallantly, and by the aid of the Hon. W. M. Jervis, Mr G. H. Strutt, Mr W. H. Worthington, Mr Walter Boden, and Mr Arthur Wilson, the financial incubus was removed. In the course of time it was found that the grand stand of the racecourse was too far away from the pitch and very inconvenient. With the object of raising funds to build a pavilion, a bazaar was held in the Drill Hall, Derby, during Easter week, 1883. This movement realised about £800, and, with subscriptions, £1400 was spent on the new building, which faced the grand stand. When Derby County football club was started under the auspices of the cricket organisation, Mr James Wragg, a great enthusiast of the summer game, moved the pavilion to its present site, renovated the structure, and added a second front towards the football enclosure, at an outlay of nearly £1000.
Such pluck by a few zealous friends, whereby the club was rescued from insolvency, met with its reward by the excellent results which Derbyshire achieved as a cricket county in 1894, and the ofificial recognition that year of the county being promoted to first-class rank invested the matches with keen interest. Of the exponents for the Peak county mention must be made of the excellent all-round cricketer George Davidson. He is exceptionally good both with bat and ball. In 1895 Davidson scored 1296 runs in first-class matches and captured 138 wickets, while Chatterton in 1895 was credited with 1134 runs and William Storer with 1110. In 1896 both these latter players improved their figures, Chatterton obtaining 1193 runs and Storer 1313; while Storer achieved the feat of scoring two centuries in a match, 100 and 100 not out, v. Yorkshire at Derby. He is, too, one of the finest wicket-keepers of the day. Since 1891 Derbyshire has been mainly captained by the old Cliftonian Mr Sydney Herbert Evershed, who played his first match at Lord's for Clifton College v. M.C.C. in 1877. He first played for Derbyshire in 1880, while three of his brothers, W. W. Evershed, F. Evershed, and E. Evershed have also assisted the Peak county. The president is Mr Walter Boden, the honorary secretary Mr W. Barclay Delacombe. Of literature dealing with the county, the Derbyshire Cricket Annuals were first issued in 1885; while in 1897 the 'History of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club from 1871 to 1896,' by Mr Walter J. Piper, was published.
