Chapter Eleven Joining the Party Nine counties contested the County Championship after Somerset’s admission in 1891 and in May 1894 it was decided to introduce four more. Matches played by Derbyshire, Essex, Leicestershire and Warwickshire were declared first-class, although it was too late to include them in the competition that year. In October Hampshire were added to the list and the five newcomers joined in 1895. They had no impact on the established holiday games, solving any perceived difficulties by, in the main, meeting each other. Since their relegation to second-class in 1888 Derbyshire’s principal opponents had been Essex, although they had also faced Yorkshire and Leicestershire. Fred Spofforth, married to a Derbyshire girl and now living in the county, turned out against Yorkshire in the 1889 Whit match at Derby and returned a match analysis of 15 for 81, Bobby Peel’s corresponding 15 for 67 failing to avert defeat by 54 runs. For the most part, Whitsuntide meant Essex at Leyton and the August return at Derby, with Charles Kortright’s pace causing Derbyshire’s batsmen to hop around. Levi Wright, the ‘grand old man’ of Derbyshire cricket, said Kortright became aware that William Chatterton, who had a good record against Essex in this period, thought that the fast bowler threw. In a subsequent confrontation Kortright sent two balls screaming past Chatterton’s nose and yorked him with a third. Wright also tells the tale of the Derbyshire bowler GG (George) Walker, who had an unhappy introduction to Kortright at Leyton in 1893. “The first time we met Kortright, Walker was not playing so that when we began to talk about the wonderful pace of this new bowler GG would not believe it. Essex had a fast bowler named Harry Pickett and GG would not take it in that anything could be faster. However, when we got to Leyton, his impressions were soon upset. He watched Kortright from the pavilion and at last with doubt went in to face him. He had only three balls. As he said on his return, the first was coming back over his head from the wicket-keeper when he got his bat down, the second was in the ‘keeper’s hands when he made his stroke and the third, he found, had knocked one of his stumps as far back as the wicket-keeper before he knew what to do. Then he admitted that Kortright (who finished with seven for 39) was fast.” When the teams met at Derby in August 1893 Harry Bagshaw and William Storer helped their side to a total of 262 and some fine left-arm fast medium bowling from Joe Hulme left the home team 160 to make in less than three hours. Wright and the left-handed Bagshaw batted superbly and the runs were obtained in 95 minutes for the loss of one wicket. The amateurs shared the same dressing room and Wright overheard Hugh Owen whisper to the Essex captain AP (Bunny) Lucas that Kortright had a sore heel but that if only they could make him forget it for about six overs the match was as good as won. A small bottle of champagne was produced and Kortright unleashed. “As I was going in first with Bagshaw I thought it policy to put Baggy on his guard. So I told him what had happened and we agreed to stick it, patiently for those six overs, if we could, and take all the advantages afterwards. That first half hour I shall never forget, for the way 47