| Club: | Derbyshire County Cricket Club |
| Season: | 1981 |
| Comp1: | County Championship |
| Comp1 Result: | 12 |
| Comp2 Result: | 4 |
| Comp3: | National Westminster Bank Trophy |
| Comp3 Result: | Winners |
| Comp4: | Benson & Hedges Cup. |
| Comp4 Result: | Group |
| Most Runs: | Peter Kirsten |
| Most Wickets: | Paul Newman |
| Prevseason: | 1980 |
| Nextseason: | 1982 |
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1981 represents cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for one hundred and ten years. It was the season when they won National Westminster Bank Trophy. They won ten matches in the John Player League to finish fourth. In the County Championship, they won four matches to finish twelfth in their seventy-seventh season in the Championship. They were eliminated at group level in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
Derbyshire played 22 games in the County Championship, and one match against the touring Australians of which they won four altogether Geoff Miller was in his third season as captain. Peter Kirsten was top scorer overall, in the County Championship and in the NWB Trophy, although John Wright scored most in the John Player League. Paul Newman and David Steele tied on 46 for most wickets in the County Championship, although Newman took an extra first class wicket against the Australians. Barry Wood took most wickets in the John Player League, and Colin Tunnicliffe most wickets in the NWB Trophy.
The club took on two wicket keepers in the season Michael Deakin as a stop gap and Bernie Maher who saw several years service with the club. Another player making his debut was Dallas Moir who went on to play several seasons for Derbyshire.
| List of matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| 1 | 6 May 1981[1] | Leicestershire | Drawn | ||
| 2 | 13 May 1981[2] | Surrey | Drawn | ||
| 3 | 23 May 1981[3] | Nottinghamshire | Abandoned | ||
| 4 | 27 May 1981[4] | Northamptonshire | Drawn | ||
| 5 | 6 Jun 1981[5] | Warwickshire | Drawn | ||
| 6 | 10 Jun 1981[6] | Australians | Drawn | ||
| 7 | 13 Jun 1981[7] | Essex | Drawn | ||
| 8 | 17 Jun 1981[8] | Yorkshire | Drawn | ||
| 9 | 20 Jun 1981[9] | Northamptonshire | Lost | 9 wickets | |
| 10 | 1 Jul 1981[10] | Lancashire | Drawn | ||
| 11 | 4 Jul 1981[11] | Worcestershire | Won | 3 runs | |
| 12 | 15 Jul 1981[12] | Hampshire | Lost | Innings and 32 runs | |
| 13 | 18 Jul 1981[13] | Somerset | Drawn | ||
| 14 | 25 Jul 1981[14] | Kent | Won | 9 wickets | |
| 15 | 29 Jul 1981[15] | Gloucestershire | Won | Innings and 26 runs | |
| 16 | 1 Aug 1981[16] | Essex | Lost | Innings and 60 runs | |
| 17 | 8 Aug 1981[17] | Leicestershire | Lost | Innings and 27 runs | |
| 18 | 12 Aug 1981[18] | Sussex | Lost | 5 wickets | |
| 19 | 15 Aug 1981[19] | Glamorgan | Won | Innings and 7 runs | |
| 20 | 22 Aug 1981[20] | Yorkshire | Lost | 6 wickets | |
| 21 | 26 Aug 1981[21] | Lancashire | Drawn | ||
| 22 | 29 Aug 1981[22] | Nottinghamshire | Lost | 9 wickets | |
| 23 | 12 Sep 1981[23] | Middlesex | Drawn | ||
| List of matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| 1 | 10 May 1981[24] | Lancashire | Won | Faster scoring rate | |
| 2 | 24 May 1981[25] | Nottinghamshire | Abandoned | ||
| 3 | 31 May 1981[26] | Surrey | Lost | 3 wickets | |
| 4 | 14 Jun 1981[27] | Hampshire | Won | 5 wickets | |
| 5 | 21 Jun 1981[28] | Warwickshire | Won | 42 runs | |
| 6 | 28 Jun 1981[29] | Gloucestershire | Won | 9 wickets | |
| 7 | 5 Jul 1981[30] | Worcestershire | Won | 8 wickets | |
| 8 | 19 Jul 1981[31] | Somerset | Lost | 7 wickets | |
| 9 | 26 Jul 1981[32] | Kent | Won | 18 runs | |
| 10 | 2 Aug 1981[33] | Essex | Lost | 32 runs | |
| 11 | 9 Aug 1981[34] | Leicestershire | Won | 23 runs | |
| 12 | 16 Aug 1981[35] | Glamorgan | Won | 5 wickets | |
| 13 | 23 Aug 1981[36] | Yorkshire | Lost | 71 runs | |
| 14 | 30 Aug 1981[37] | Northamptonshire | Won | 38 runs | |
| 15 | 6 Sep 1981[38] | Sussex | Lost | 5 wickets | |
| 16 | 13 Sep 1981[39] | Middlesex | Won | 6 wickets | |
| List of matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| 1st Round | 11 Jul 1981[40] | Suffolk | Won | 171 runs | |
| 2nd Round | 22 Jul 1981[41] | Worcestershire | Won | 4 wickets | |
| Quarter Final | 5 Aug 1981[42] | Nottinghamshire | Won | 23 runs | |
| Semi Final | 19 Aug 1981[43] | Essex | Won | Losing fewer wickets | |
| Final | 5 Sep 1981[44] | Northamptonshire | Won | Losing fewer wickets | |
| List of matches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | V | Result | Margin | Notes |
| Group B 1 | 9 May 1981[45] | Yorkshire | Lost | 1 wicket | |
| Group B 2 | 16 May 1981[46] | Warwickshire | No Result | ||
| Group B 3 | 19 May 1981[47] | Scotland | Won | 7 wickets | |
| Group B 4 | 21 May 1981[48] | Lancashire | Won | 2 wickets | |
| Name | County Championship | NWB Trophy | B & H Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | I | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | M | I | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | M | I | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | M | I | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | |
| 10 | 13 | 92 | 44 | 9.20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 21 | 413 | 67* | 24.29 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 205 | 35 | 18.63 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 136 | 59 | 45.33 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 17 | 12.00 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 12.00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 6 | 45 | 15 | 7.50 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 11 | 9 | 81 | 21 | 13.50 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 12* | 20.00 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2* | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 21 | 30 | 936 | 107 | 42.54 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 132 | 33* | 18.85 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 57 | 21 | 11.40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 20 | 33 | 1563 | 228 | 57.88 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 425 | 63 | 30.35 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 229 | 84* | 57.25 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 76 | 65 | 25.33 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | 4* | 3.00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 20 | 30 | 538 | 81 | 19.92 | 0 | 13 | 12 | 229 | 52* | 22.90 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 81 | 57 | 27.00 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 97 | 74 | 48.50 | 0 | |
| 3 | 4 | 26 | 16 | 8.66 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 15 | 93 | 27 | 8.45 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 3.33 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 15.00 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5* | 0 | ||
| 15 | 14 | 92 | 33 | 10.22 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 25 | 14 | 12.50 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 20 | 30 | 836 | 137 | 29.85 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 145 | 35 | 20.71 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 113 | 89* | 28.25 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 12 | 10.66 | 0 | |
| 15 | 15 | 231 | 100 | 19.25 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 39 | 26* | 19.50 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 12* | 33.00 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 16 | 30.00 | 0 | |
| 20 | 24 | 239 | 39 | 10.39 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 91 | 27 | 13.00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 15* | 6.00 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 11 | 10.50 | 0 | |
| 21 | 35 | 1412 | 153 | 48.68 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 285 | 58* | 25.90 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 48 | 18 | 9.60 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 76 | 32* | 25.33 | 0 | |
| 19 | 30 | 1110 | 150 | 38.27 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 618 | 87* | 51.50 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 216 | 76 | 43.20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 104 | 47 | 34.66 | 0[49] [50] [51] [52] | |
| Name | County Championship | NWB Trophy | B & H Cup | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balls | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Best | Ave | |
| 330 | 222 | 3 | 1-17 | 74.00 | ||||||||||||||||
| 705 | 435 | 4 | 2-58 | 108.75 | 24 | 19 | 1 | 1-19 | 19.00 | |||||||||||
| 1952 | 792 | 30 | 5-41 | 26.40 | 474 | 267 | 13 | 3-43 | 20.53 | 264 | 109 | 3 | 2-20 | 36.33 | 189 | 82 | 8 | 4-18 | 10.25 | |
| 7 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 156 | 82 | 1 | 1-7 | 82.00 | 78 | 54 | 3 | 2-15 | 18.00 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 18 | 0 | |||||
| 2738 | 1258 | 33 | 4-27 | 38.12 | 324 | 195 | 12 | 4-35 | 16.25 | 204 | 123 | 7 | 2-16 | 17.57 | 76 | 38 | 1 | 1-20 | 38.00 | |
| 374 | 203 | 2 | 1-20 | 101.50 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1965 | 1115 | 46 | 5-51 | 24.23 | 516 | 336 | 12 | 3-24 | 28.00 | 184 | 86 | 7 | 3-23 | 12.28 | 96 | 44 | 2 | 1-14 | 22.00 | |
| 1886 | 1025 | 23 | 3-35 | 44.56 | 590 | 514 | 18 | 3-24 | 28.55 | 138 | 77 | 4 | 3-29 | 19.25 | 132 | 69 | 1 | 1-33 | 69.00 | |
| 2364 | 1015 | 46 | 7-53 | 22.06 | 136 | 113 | 5 | 3-36 | 22.60 | 177 | 112 | 4 | 2-23 | 28.00 | 96 | 77 | 4 | 2-7 | 19.25 | |
| 2918 | 1536 | 42 | 5-34 | 36.57 | 607 | 379 | 20 | 5-24 | 18.95 | 300 | 147 | 11 | 5-50 | 13.36 | 198 | 89 | 8 | 5-24 | 11.12 | |
| 1419 | 774 | 16 | 2-12 | 48.37 | 684 | 453 | 21 | 3-19 | 21.57 | 360 | 127 | 6 | 2-14 | 21.16 | 132 | 45 | 2 | 2-24 | 22.50[53] [54] [55] [56] | |
County Championship Catches 33, Stumping 12
John Player League Catches 12, Stumping 5
NWB Trophy Catches 10, Stumping 2
B & H Trophy Catches 1, Stumping 1
County Championship Catches 6, Stumping 2