Derek Clifton Morgan (26 February 1929 – 4 November 2017) was an English
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er who played for
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...
between 1950 and 1969, captaining the side between 1965 and 1969. An all-rounder, he is the only Derbyshire cricketer besides
Leslie Townsend to have achieved the double of 10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets.
Morgan was born in
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross.
Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...
, London. He made his first-class debut for Derbyshire in the
1950 season against
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
in May, when he took two wickets in the first innings and was not out in his only batting innings. He played occasionally for the second XI but was soon established as a first team regular.
In the
1951 season he took 6 for 93 against
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
. He made his first century of 109 not out against
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
in the
1955 season. In the
1960 season he took 7 wickets for 38 against
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
. In the
1962 season he scored centuries against
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
and
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.
He scored 113 not out against
Pakistan Eaglets
Pakistan Eaglets were a team of young cricketers from Pakistan, founded by Justice A.R. Cornelius. They toured England and Wales every year from 1952 to 1959, Malaya and Ceylon in 1960–61, and England again in 1963. Most of their matches were n ...
in the
1963 season and was nominated man of the match in the club's first
Gillette Cup match against Hampshire. In this season he achieved his best first-class score of 147 against Hampshire and made 115 against Somerset. He was also nominated man of the match in the first round Gillette Cup game in the
1964 season, although Derbyshire lost.
Morgan became Derbyshire captain in the
1965 season and that year achieved his best bowling performance of 7 for 33 against
Glamorgan
Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...
. In the 1965
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
, Derbyshire was twelfth, rising to eighth in the
1966 season. Morgan scored 103 not out against Warwickshire, but the team sank to bottom of the championship in
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
,
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
and
1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, his last three years as captain. However they were runners up in the Gillette Cup in 1969.
Morgan finished his first-class career with 17,842 runs for
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, which puts him 3rd on their all-time list. He was a right-hand batsman and played 883 innings in 556 first-class matches with an average of 24.94. He achieved a top score of 147 among his seven centuries. He also played 25 innings in 27 one-day matches. Morgan is also Derbyshire's 5th most successful wicket taker of all time with 1,216 wickets. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and achieved an average of 25.08 with 35 5-wicket innings and a best performance of 7 for 33. He also took 23 wickets in the one-day game. He holds the Derbyshire record for catches by a fieldsman, with 563.
Derbyshire fielding records – most catches
Retrieved 2 December 2017.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Derek
1929 births
2017 deaths
English cricketers
Derbyshire cricket captains
International Cavaliers cricketers
Players cricketers
People from Muswell Hill
Cricketers from the London Borough of Haringey
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers
T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers
20th-century English sportsmen