County cricket being played in 1709, though an official County Championship was not instituted until 1890. Having already been badly hit by the Seven Years' War, county cricket ceased altogether during the Napoleonic Wars and there was a period from 1797 to 1824 during which no inter-county matches took place. Inter-county cricket was popular throughout the 18th century, although the best team, such as Kent in the 1740s or Hampshire in the days of the famous Hambledon Club, was usually acknowledged as such by being matched against All-England. The most successful county teams were Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. There was,
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1978 Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1978 Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1978 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for one hundred and seven years. They reached the final of the Benson & Hedges Cup. In the County Championship, they won three matches to finish fourteenth in their seventy fourth season in the Championship. They came eighth in the John Player League and did not progress beyond round 2 in the Gillette Cup. Derbyshire reached the final of the Benson and Hedges Cup, losing to Kent. They played twenty two matches in the County Championship,