Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1971 was the centenary cricket season of the English club Derbyshire which had first played in 1871. In the County Championship, they won one match to finish seventeenth in their seventy-seventh season in the Championship. They won seven matches in the John Player League to finish eleventh. They were eliminated in Round 2 of the Gillette Cup. 1971 season Derbyshire played 24 games in the County Championship, one match against Oxford University and one match against the touring Pakistanis. They won one match overall and managed 19 draws in the County Championship. Ian Buxton was in his second season as captain. Ian Hall scored most runs and Philip Russell took most wickets. Anthony Borrington and Ashley Harvey-Walker, who made their first-class debuts in the season, went on to play for several more seasons for Derbyshire. Harvey-Walker achieved a unique distinction by scoring a century in his debut match. Another newcomer, David Wilde, played in this and the following season. Leslie Bradbury made his single first-class cricket appearance in one match for Derbyshire. Harold Cartwright, only played one-day cricket for Derbyshire in this his initial season, but stayed with the club for several seasons Matches First Class {| class="wikitable" width="100%" ! bgcolor="#efefef" colspan=6 | List of matches |- bgcolor="#efefef" !No. !Date !V !Result !Margin !Notes |- |1 |1 May 1971 | Middlesex County Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | Parfitt 103; Latchman 6–72 |- |2 | 5 May 1971 | Leicestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | Inman 147 |- |3 | 8 May 1971 | Gloucestershire Ashley Down Ground, Bristol |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | |- |4 | 15 May 1971 | Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | PJK Gibbs 127; Lance Gibbs 6–54 |- |5 | 22 May 1971 | Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | |- |6 | 26 May 1971 | SomersetCounty Ground, Derby |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | CP Wilkins 113; A Jones 5–26 |- |7 | 29 May 1971 | Essex Ind Coope Ground, Burton-on-Trent |bgcolor="#FF0000"|Lost | Innings and 41 runs | Hobbs 5–38 |- |8 | 5 Jun 1971 | Kent Rectory Field, Blackheath |bgcolor="#00FF00"|Won | 93 runs | MH Page 111; FW Swarbrook 5–55 |- |9 | 9 Jun 1971 | Essex Valentine's Park, Ilford |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | |- |10 | 16 Jun 1971 | WorcestershireQueen's Park, Chesterfield |bgcolor="#FFCC00"|Drawn | | |- |11 | 19 Jun 1971 | Hampshire County Ground, Derby