Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1981

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 Grace Road, Leicester	Drawn		Briers 101; B Wood 123; L Taylor 7-28
2	13 May 1981[2]	Surrey Kennington Oval	Drawn		Clinton 123
3	23 May 1981[3]	Nottinghamshire County Ground, Derby	Abandoned
4	27 May 1981[4]	Northamptonshire County Ground, Northampton	Drawn		CJ Tunnicliffe 5-34
5	6 Jun 1981[5]	Warwickshire County Ground, Derby	Drawn		Amiss 109 and 127; DS Steele 6-77
6	10 Jun 1981[6]	Australians County Ground, Derby	Drawn		JG Wright 144
7	13 Jun 1981[7]	Essex County Ground, Derby	Drawn		PG Newman 5-51
8	17 Jun 1981[8]	Yorkshire Abbeydale Park, Sheffield	Drawn		Lumb 145; Moxon 111; A Hill 101; RW Taylor 100
9	20 Jun 1981[9]	Northamptonshire County Ground, Derby	Lost	9 wickets	JG Wright 110; PN Kirsten 114; Cook 120; Larkins 126
10	1 Jul 1981[10]	Lancashire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Drawn		Kennedy 180; B Wood 127; Simmons 5-39
11	4 Jul 1981[11]	Worcestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	3 runs	Pridgeon 5-63; Patel 100; JG Wright 141; B Wood 153 Younis Ahmed 107; M Hendrick 5-41
12	15 Jul 1981[12]	Hampshire United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth	Lost	Innings and 32 runs	Greenidge 109
13	18 Jul 1981[13]	Somerset County Ground, Taunton	Drawn		PN Kirsten 228;DS Steele 137; Richards 130
14	25 Jul 1981[14]	Kent County Ground, Derby	Won	9 wickets	Benson 108; Tavare 156; DS Steele 7-53
15	29 Jul 1981[15]	Gloucestershire County Ground, Derby	Won	Innings and 26 runs	CJ Tunnicliffe 5-40; Childs 5-43
16	1 Aug 1981[16]	Essex County Ground, Chelmsford	Lost	Innings and 60 runs
17	8 Aug 1981[17]	Leicestershire County Ground, Derby	Lost	Innings and 27 runs	DS Steele 7-85; L Taylor 6-19
18	12 Aug 1981[18]	Sussex The Saffrons, Eastbourne	Lost	5 wickets	Imran Khan 107 and 5-52
19	15 Aug 1981[19]	Glamorgan St Helen's, Swansea	Won	Innings and 7 runs	DS Steele 5-62
20	22 Aug 1981[20]	Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Lost	6 wickets	JG Wright 150; Geoffrey Boycott 122
21	26 Aug 1981[21]	Lancashire Stanley Park, Blackpool	Drawn		PN Kirsten 204; Lloyd 146
22	29 Aug 1981[22]	Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Lost	9 wickets	Hemmings 7-59 and 6-70; CJ Tunnicliffe 5-75
23	12 Sep 1981[23]	Middlesex County Ground, Derby	Drawn		Mike Brearley 145; Mike Gatting 186; A Hill 107; Edmonds 6-93

List of matches
No.	Date	V	Result	Margin	Notes
1	10 May 1981[24]	Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester	Won	Faster scoring rate
2	24 May 1981[25]	Nottinghamshire County Ground, Derby	Abandoned
3	31 May 1981[26]	Surrey Kennington Oval	Lost	3 wickets
4	14 Jun 1981[27]	Hampshire County Ground, Derby	Won	5 wickets
5	21 Jun 1981[28]	Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham	Won	42 runs
6	28 Jun 1981[29]	Gloucestershire Wagon Works Ground, Gloucester	Won	9 wickets
7	5 Jul 1981[30]	Worcestershire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Won	8 wickets
8	19 Jul 1981[31]	Somerset County Ground, Taunton	Lost	7 wickets
9	26 Jul 1981[32]	Kent County Ground, Derby	Won	18 runs
10	2 Aug 1981[33]	Essex County Ground, Chelmsford	Lost	32 runs
11	9 Aug 1981[34]	Leicestershire County Ground, Derby	Won	23 runs
12	16 Aug 1981[35]	Glamorgan St Helen's, Swansea	Won	5 wickets
13	23 Aug 1981[36]	Yorkshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield	Lost	71 runs	Athey 5-35
14	30 Aug 1981[37]	Northamptonshire County Ground, Derby	Won	38 runs	CJ Tunnicliffe 5-24
15	6 Sep 1981[38]	Sussex County Ground, Hove	Lost	5 wickets
16	13 Sep 1981[39]	Middlesex County Ground, Derby	Won	6 wickets

List of matches
No.	Date	V	Result	Margin	Notes
1st Round	11 Jul 1981[40]	Suffolk Victory Ground, Bury St Edmunds	Won	171 runs
2nd Round	22 Jul 1981[41]	Worcestershire County Ground, New Road, Worcester	Won	4 wickets	CJ Tunnicliffe 5-50
Quarter Final	5 Aug 1981[42]	Nottinghamshire County Ground, Derby	Won	23 runs
Semi Final	19 Aug 1981[43]	Essex County Ground, Derby	Won	Losing fewer wickets
Final	5 Sep 1981[44]	Northamptonshire Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood	Won	Losing fewer wickets	Cook 111

List of matches
No.	Date	V	Result	Margin	Notes
Group B 1	9 May 1981[45]	Yorkshire County Ground, Derby	Lost	1 wicket	Bairstow 103; CJ Tunnicliffe 5-24
Group B 2	16 May 1981[46]	Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham	No Result
Group B 3	19 May 1981[47]	Scotland County Ground, Derby	Won	7 wickets
Group B 4	21 May 1981[48]	Lancashire Old Trafford, Manchester	Won	2 wickets