Derbyshire played six county games, two each against
Lancashire,
Sussex and
Yorkshire. They also played a first-class match against
MCC and a match against the touring Australians Derbyshire won one game against Sussex and lost seven. They did not play any additional matches. The captain for the year was
Robert Smith in his sixth year as captain. The most significant new arrival was
William Chatterton who was to score over 10000 runs for the club.
William Cropper made his debut and was regular top bowler for the club until a football accident in 1889. Other long term players who debuted were
W Hall, a print worker who played until 1892 and
Henry Slater a miner who played occasional matches over several seasons. Players who only performed for the club in the 1882 season were
Duncan Johnston a Royal Engineers officer who played four games, and J Hodgkinson who played one game. Two brewers from Burton also made appearances -
John Eadie son of
William Eadie, who played one game and
Henry Sugden who played two games. Players who played their last matches were the two long-serving schoolmasters
Abraham Shuker and
Arthur Forman.
Leonard Jackson retired after five years to concentrate on his hotel business and metal grinding.
William Page gave up the game after the loss of the sight of an eye. Two players left the area.
H Evans a railway manager moved to Glasgow, and
Dudley Docker moved to Warwickshire where he set up his business.
Thomas Foster was top scorer and
William Mycroft took most wickets.
Matches ==Statistics==