Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1897

Derbyshire played sixteen games in the County Championship and one against MCC. They did not win a match in the season, losing ten. They were missing two key bowlers: John Hulme, who had taken most wickets in 1896, did not play at all during the season; and George Porter, who underwent surgery in 1896 and retired from the game.

Sydney Evershed was in his seventh season as captain. Levi Wright was top scorer, overtaking Bagshaw's lead in the Championship with a good performance against MCC. George Davidson took most wickets but, apart from three matches on sticky wickets against Lancashire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire, was never difficult, and of the others only wicket-keeper Storer ever took five wickets in one innings.

Of those who made their debuts in the season, Arnold Warren went on to play for the club for 23 years and represented England in 1905, and Maynard Ashcroft, a doctor, went on to become club captain. Most of the remaining newcomers were from mining families. Frank Davidson, Joseph Hancock and William Wilmot each played over several more seasons but more or less occasionally. James Cross, Herbert Bostock, Dick Steeples and Edward Houseman all appeared only in the 1897 season, Cross playing nine matches, Bostock four, Steeples three and Houseman one. Cross and Steeples filled in for the lack of bowling, while Bostock achieved a high average in his three games.