| Club: | Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons |
| Season: | 1896 |
| Captain: | Sydney Evershed |
| Comp1: | County Championship |
| Comp1 Result: | 7 |
| Most Runs: | William Storer |
| Prevseason: | 1895 |
| Nextseason: | 1897 |
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1896 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for twenty five years. It was their second season in the County Championship and they came seventh.
Derbyshire played 16 games in the County Championship, one match against MCC and one against the touring Australians. They won five matches in the County Championship and six matches altogether. Brewer's son Sydney Evershed was in his sixth season as captain. William Storer was top scorer, as well as keeping wicket and bowling to take 15 wickets. John Hulme took most wickets with 77 in the County Championship.
In a season marked by a number of high scores, with centuries both for and against Derbyshire Storer and George Davidson produced notable batting performances during the season. Davidson made 274 against Lancashire at Manchester which remains the Derbyshire individual batting record. In the same innings Chatterton and Storer also scored centuries. Against Yorkshire Storer hit centuries in each innings—a feat performed previously only by W. G. Grace, A. E. Stoddart and George Brann, giving him a season's batting average of over 57. Bagshaw added a third century against Yorkshire in the same match.
Of those who made their debuts in the season, Thomas Gould and Henry Curgenven also played in 1897. John Purdy and Charles Middleton played more seasons, but only occasionally. Walter Butterfield played only two matches in 1896 and Frank Bingham just one.
| List of matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| 1 | 14 May 1896 [1] | Surrey At County Ground, Derby | Lost | Innings and 15 runs | Hayward 229 |
| 2 | 18 May 1896 [2] | Nottinghamshire At Trent Bridge | Lost | 7 wickets | Gunn 135 |
| 3 | 25 May 1896 [3] | Hampshire At County Ground, Southampton | Won | 7 wickets | Ward 113 |
| 4 | 28 May 1896 [4] | MCC At Lord's | Won | 1 wicket | W Attewell 5-38; G Porter 5-50 |
| 5 | 04 Jun 1896 [5] | Surrey At Kennington Oval | Lost | Innings and 57 runs | R Abel 109; G Lohmann 6-51 |
| 6 | 08 Jun 1896 [6] | Lancashire At County Ground, Derby | Lost | 37 runs | JJ Hulme 6-57; A Mold 5-58 and 7-46; G Davidson 5-49 |
| 7 | 15 Jun 1896 [7] | Nottinghamshire At County Ground, Derby | Drawn | Gunn 207*; Hardstaffe 8-53 | |
| 8 | 25 Jun 1896 [8] | Yorkshire At County Ground, Derby | Drawn | W Storer 100 and 100*; H Bagshaw 115 | |
| 9 | 29 Jun 1896 [9] | Leicestershire At Grace Road, Leicestershire | Won | Innings and 147 runs | W Storer 142; G Davidson 6-53 |
| 10 | 02 Jul 1896 [10] | Yorkshire Bramall Lane, Sheffield | Lost | 9 wickets | Denton 113; W Storer 122; JJ Hulme 5-80; S Haigh 6-45 and 6-70 |
| 11 | 06 Jul 1896 [11] | Leicestershire At County Ground, Derby | Drawn | H Bagshaw 121; Pougher 114 | |
| 12 | 13 Jul 1896 [12] | Warwickshire At County Ground, Derby | Won | 10 wickets | R Lilley 132 and 6-46; G Davidson 5-62; JJ Hulme 7-44 |
| 13 | 20 Jul 1896 [13] | Australians At County Ground, Derby | Drawn | Trott 141; Donnan 167; Hill 130; G Giffen 5-123 | |
| 14 | 23 Jul 1896 [14] | Essex At County Ground, Leyton | Drawn | W Chatterton 111 | |
| 15 | 03 Aug 1896 [15] | Hampshire At County Ground, Derby | Won | 8 wickets | Kitchener 6-59 |
| 16 | 10 Aug 1896 [16] | Lancashire At Old Trafford, Manchester | Drawn | W Chatterton 104; G Davidson 274; W Storer 116; J Briggs 6–185; JJ Hulme 5-94 | |
| 17 | 17 Aug 1896 [17] | Essex At County Ground, Derby | Lost | 201 runs | JJ Hulme 6-98; Bull 5-68 |
| 18 | 24 Aug 1896 [18] | Warwickshire At Edgbaston | Drawn | G Davidson 8-70 | |