Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1939
Introduction '''Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1939''' was the last cricket season before World War II, when the English club  Derbyshire had been playing for sixty-eight years. It was their forty first season in the County Championship and  they won ten matches in the Championship, to finish ninth.
1939 season  Derbyshire played 28 matches in the County Championship, one against  Oxford University and one against the touring West Indians. They won eleven matches altogether, ten in the County Championship. Robin Buckston was in his third season as captain. Denis Smith scored most runs and Bill Copson took most wickets.Nearly all the players had been members of the 1936 championship winning team and the only player to make his debut was Cliff Gladwin whose low scores and failure to take a wicket gave little inkling that he would turn out to be Derbyshire's main wicket-taker in the years after World War II.===Matches=== List of  matchesNo.DateVResult MarginNotes1 10 May 1939 Oxford University    The University Parks, Oxford Won 163 runs W H Copson 5-12 and 5-9; Pether 5-7; A V Pope 5-30 213 May 1939   Surrey  Queen's Park, Chesterfield   Drawn Gregory 5-46; W H Copson 5-47 320 May 1939  Northamptonshire   County Ground, Derby Won 10 wickets  427 May 1939  Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham Lost 71 runs Dollery 177; W H Copson 5-47; Hollies 6-48 and 5-79; T. B. Mitchell 5-112 531 May 1939  Kent  Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston Won 5 wickets W H Copson 5-39;  603 Jun 1939  Lancashire   Old Trafford, Manchester Lost Innings and 105 runs Paynter 222; Phillipson 5-38 707 Jun 1939   WorcestershireQueen's Park, Chesterfield Won 315 runs D Smith 123; A V Pope6-47 810 Jun 1939  West Indies    County Ground, Derby Drawn W H Copson 6-73 914 Jun 1939    Surrey Woodbridge Road, Guildford  Won Innings and 43 runs Parker 6-34; A V Pope 6-44; G H Pope 5-46 1017 Jun 1939  Lancashire   Park Road Ground, Buxton Drawn T S Worthington 101 1121 Jun 1939  Leicestershire  Queen's Park, Chesterfield Won 9 wickets H Smith 5-64; L F Townsend  5-45 1224 Jun 1939  Yorkshire  Bramall Lane, Sheffield Lost 276 runs Barber 100; G H Pope 6-44; Smurthwaite 5-7; Smailes 10-471328 Jun 1939   Sussex    County Ground, Derby Lost 13 runs T S Worthington 119; W H Copson 6-64; Duffield 5-38; Langridge 3-5Langridge scored a hat-trick  1401 Jul 1939  Essex   Queen's Park, Chesterfield Won 10 wickets W H Copson 6-57; Stephenson 6-41 1508 Jul 1939  Nottinghamshire    Trent Bridge, Nottingham Drawn T. B. Mitchell 5-70 1612 Jul 1939  Middlesex   County Ground, Derby Won 6 wickets W H Copson 7-39 1715 Jul 1939  Yorkshire  Queen's Park, Chesterfield Drawn  1819 Jul 1939   Worcestershire Tipton Road, Dudley Drawn D Smith 132 1922 Jul 1939  SomersetCounty Ground, Derby Drawn Buse 5-76; G H Pope 5-59; T. B. Mitchell 5-66; Andrews 5-45 2026 Jul 1939  Middlesex     Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood Lost Innings and 24 runs Denis Compton 214; Sims 8-32 and 5-128  2129 Jul 1939  Kent  Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend Lost 171 runs Ames 159; Todd 106; Harding 5-56 2202 Aug 1939   Gloucestershire  Queen's Park, Chesterfield Drawn Scott 7-63; T. B. Mitchell 6-71 2305 Aug 1939  Warwickshire  Ind Coope Ground, Burton-on-Trent Drawn Grove 5-78 2409 Aug 1939  Northamptonshire   County Ground, Northampton Drawn Brookes 101; G H Pope 6-38 2512 Aug 1939  Essex    Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea Lost Innings and 31 runs Nichols 6-18 and 5-26; Farnes 5-52 2616 Aug 1939   Gloucestershire    College Ground, Cheltenham Won 1 run W H Copson 5-45;A V Pope 5-25; Lambert 6-69; T. B. Mitchell 5-75 2719 Aug 1939  Nottinghamshire    Rutland Recreation Ground, Ilkeston Won 147 runs G H Pope 121 2823 Aug 1939   Sussex    The Saffrons, Eastbourne Lost Innings and 39 runs T. B. Mitchell 8-149 Nye 5-49 2926 Aug 1939  SomersetCounty Ground, Taunton Won 7 wickets A F Townsend  142; Buse 8-41 3030 Aug 1939  Leicestershire  Aylestone Road, Leicester Drawn Sperry 7-48; W H Copson  6-39
Statistics ===County Championship batting averages=== Name  Matches  Inns  Runs  High score  Average 100s G H Pope  28 46  1397 121 34.07  1   D Smith 28 51  1468 132  31.91  2     T S Worthington   24 40  1036 119  28.77  2   A E Alderman  28 48  1138 91  25.86  0   A V Pope  28 41  768 65  21.94     A F Townsend  11 21  400 142* 21.05  1     L F Townsend 22 33  647 92  20.87  0     AEG Rhodes  26 39  468 72 12.64  0    TD Hounsfield 13 19  179 36  11.18  0    RHR Buckston  17 27  236 33 10.26  0    T R Armstrong 2 10 8* 10.00  0     H Elliott 25 36  244 25 9.76  0  W H Copson   26 34 206 26  7.92  0     C Gladwin 4 7  53 16 7.57  0     T. B. Mitchell  26 35  172 27  6.14  0    ===County Championship bowling averages=== Name  Balls  Runs  Wickets  BB  Average W H Copson   4404  1856 109 7-39 17.02  A V Pope   4301  1734 86 6-44 20.16    T. B. Mitchell   2744  1728 80 8-149 21.60  G H Pope   3332  1474 78 6-38 18.89  AEG Rhodes  976  477 25 3-14 19.08   L F Townsend  580  245 8 5-45 30.62   D Smith  24  10 1 1-10 10.00    T R Armstrong  88  54 0          C Gladwin  144  78 0
Wicket Keeper *Harry Elliott Catches 48,  Stumping 11 *Albert Alderman Catches 17, Stumping 1
See also *Derbyshire County Cricket Club seasons*1939 English cricket season
References