Queen's Park, Chesterfield

In 1886, the then Mayor of Chesterfield proposed that a public park be created to mark Queen Victoria's upcoming golden jubilee in 1887. However, it took the Local Government Board a further six years to agree on costs and the park was eventually opened to the public on 2 August 1893. Chesterfield Cricket Club was granted exclusive use of the ground in February 1894, and the first game was played there on 5 May 1894. There was an unusual incident during the County Championship match between Derbyshire and Yorkshire in mid-1946. After two overs were bowled in the Derbyshire first innings, Yorkshire captain Len Hutton asked for the length of the pitch to be measured. It was found to be 24…

]] After a century of first-class cricket at Chesterfield between 1898 and 1998, the next seven seasons saw Derbyshire play no first-class or List A matches on the ground, although the Marylebone Cricket Club played a first class match against the touring Sri Lanka team in 2002. However, following a multimillion-pound refurbishment and upgrade of the entire park including the cricketing facilities, Derbyshire returned by taking on Worcestershire in a County Championship Division Two game between 26 and 29 July. The game ended in a draw, with Australian Marcus North avoiding defeat for the home side by scoring 161 runs, including 24 boundaries. Attendances for all four days was high, and saw…