SOME records in cricket may never be broken.

Jack Hobbs' 197 career first-class centuries and Wilfred Rhodes' 4,187 first-class career wickets are surely secure for all time, while Brian Lara's 501 not out may take some beating.

But it really is astonishing that no Derbyshire batsman in the last 112 years has managed to overhaul George Davidson's 274 as the highest individual score for the county.

Chris Rogers was the latest to threaten it last week at Edgbaston, only to be left stranded on 248 not out and, in a way, it is quite nice that he didn't set a new high.

George Davidson was one of the finest all-rounders who ever played for Derbyshire and his story is a remarkable one.

Born in the north of the county at Brimington on June 29, 1866, Davidson's father, Joe, and brother, Frank, also played for Derbyshire but George was the most successful of the three.

His earliest recorded match was in August 1885, when he kept wicket for an MCC side which also included WG Grace, and he made his debut for Derbyshire the following year.

As a batsman, he was not always prolific, going on to score 5,546 runs in 158 matches at an average of 23.80.

But he was a muscular, if not particularly tall right-arm bowler with good pace and accuracy and he took 621 wickets at an average of 18.26.

According to John Shawcroft's official history of Derbyshire CCC, Davidson caused a stir in 1894 when, at dinner following a day's play at Southampton, he made an "unkind remark" about team-mate George Porter's feet which caused Porter to storm off in a huff and earned Davidson a rebuke from senior pro William Chatterton.

They talked only when necessary for the rest of season.

But it was against Lancashire at Old Trafford in August 1896 that Davidson made his lasting mark on the county's history.

Dropped at long off on 78, he survived a stumping chance on 211 but, by then, he was Derbyshire's first double-centurion and his seven-and-a-quarter hour innings is still at the top of the list of highest scores.

His stand of 308 with William Storer during that match remained a record until 1946.

In 1898, Davidson was involved in another enduring county record. He scored his third and last century, 108, in a total of 645 against Hampshire at Derby which remained the highest until 2005.

Davidson took 6-42 with the ball in the first innings and, also in that season, he finished with match figures of 15-116 against Essex at Leyton – still the fourth-best analysis of all-time – only to finish on the losing side.

Yet six months after the match against Hampshire, on February 8, 1899, Davidson was dead.

At the age of 32, he caught flu which developed into pneumonia and ended his life, leaving a wife and six children, who were all under the age of seven.

It is a story with a tragic ending but for as long as his record remains, the name of George Davidson lives with it.