Geoffrey Alan Cope (born 23 February 1947) played
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
for
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
from 1966 to 1980,
and appeared in three
Test matches for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Life and career
Born on 23 February 1947,
Burmantofts
Burmantofts is an area of 1960s high-rise housing blocks in inner-city east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England adjacent to the city centre and St. James's Hospital. It is a racially diverse area, with sizable Afro-Caribbean and Irish communities, ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, Yorkshire
as the son of a
French polish
French polishing is a wood finishing technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and chatoyancy. French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol using a rubbing pad lubri ...
er, Cope grew up in
Crossgates, Leeds, and first played cricket at Manston Junior School. His talent was shown in an Under 11 cup final in which he took all ten wickets for 26 and then batted his team to victory. He played club cricket at an early age with Leeds Zingari and then for Leeds Cricket Club in the
Yorkshire League. He played for the club for 25 years. He played for England Schools and then, in 1964, for Yorkshire Second XI. He made his debut for the first team against
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
at
Bradford Park Avenue with
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket.Arnold, Peter ...
on Test duty. Despite taking 40 wickets at 13.82 in 1967, he did not earn a regular first team place until 1969, when Illingworth moved to captain
Leicestershire.
He won his Yorkshire
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
in 1970, but was twice forced to remodel his off-break bowling action after he was suspended in 1972, and again in 1978. "It was a bad time because you were never allowed to defend yourself," said Cope. "A committee met and made a decision, which was then passed on down the lines. You didn’t know who was on that committee or what they thought." But
Dickie Bird
Harold Dennis "Dickie" Bird, (born 19 April 1933), is an English retired international cricket umpire. During his long umpiring career, he became a much-loved figure among players and viewing public, due to his excellence as an umpire, but al ...
thought that there was nothing wrong with his action.
Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted that "Geoff Cope's career was blighted by suspicions that his off-spinner's
action was illegal and twice – in 1972 and 1978 – he was suspended by
Lord's. The second suspension came after he had broken through into the Test side the previous winter in Pakistan, where he came tantalisingly close to a debut
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
".
He worked on his action with the Yorkshire spinner
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle (8 January 1923 – 23 July 1985) was an English spin bowling cricketer whose Test Match career lasted between 1948 and 1957. His Test bowling average of 20.39 is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler since ...
and, after good seasons in 1974 and 1975, played in an England Test trial at Bristol in May 1976.
Derek Underwood
Derek Leslie Underwood (born 8 June 1945) is an English former international cricketer, and a former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Through much of his career, Underwood was regarded as one of the best bowlers in Test cricket ...
took four for 10 in the second innings while Cope took five for 27, as they skittled 'The Rest of England' for 48. Cope was not selected for a Test that summer, and so escaped a pummelling at the hands of the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, but was selected for his first major tour, to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Ceylon and Australia for the
Centenary Test that winter. Despite a good start in the Indian tour matches he did not appear in the Test Matches as
Tony Greig
Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born Test cricket captain turned commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish parentage. He was a tall () all-rounder w ...
adopted a seam based strategy to win the series 3–1.
Ken Barrington
Kenneth Frank Barrington (24 November 193014 March 1981), was an English international cricketer who played for the England cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-sp ...
, manager of the England team on his second tour, remarked that Cope was more accurate than
Derek Underwood
Derek Leslie Underwood (born 8 June 1945) is an English former international cricketer, and a former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Through much of his career, Underwood was regarded as one of the best bowlers in Test cricket ...
. He was not a big spinner of the ball, preferring to build pressure on a batsman through denying him scoring opportunities. The weakness of the Yorkshire team in the 1970s, often forced him to bowl long defensive spells against his natural attacking instincts.
He toured
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
in 1977–78, playing in all three of the
Tests, at
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
, and
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
, and two of the
One Day Internationals, at
Sialkot
Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
and
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, missing the first ODI at
Sahiwal
Sahiwal ( Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is appro ...
. He almost took a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
on his Test debut: he dismissed
Abdul Qadir leg before wicket
Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead in ...
, then bowled
Sarfraz Nawaz
Sarfraz Nawaz Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ) (born 1 December 1948) is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician, who was instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England. Between 1969 and 1984, he played 55 Tests ...
first ball. The next batsman,
Iqbal Qasim, was caught at slip by
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England.
He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...
. Despite the umpire giving him out, Brearley was not sure whether he had taken the catch cleanly and called him back to the crease.
"Iqbal Qasim came in, a little left-hander. I chose to go round the wicket and obviously we put men round the bat, 'Brears' (Mike Brearley the captain) at first slip,
Graham Roope
Graham Richard James Roope (12 July 1946 – 26 November 2006) was an English cricketer, who appeared in twenty-one Tests and eight ODIs for England between 1973 and 1978.
He also played for Surrey, Berkshire and Griqualand West in a career s ...
,
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest fa ...
, 'Both' all round the bat. I just bowled it right and it was magic really; it just turned a fraction and bounced, and 'Iqqie' nicked it. Brears just dived to his left and caught the ball about a foot off the ground, landed in front of Roopey and Willis, Iqqie just looked up the wicket at me, nodded, said, 'Well bowled'; the umpire went bananas, shaking hands and saying, 'I've never seen a hat-trick before, well bowled.' And ironically this was on my debut. 12 months previously, on the same ground,
Peter Petherick
Peter James Petherick (25 September 1942 – 7 June 2015) was a New Zealand cricketer who represented New Zealand in six Test cricket matches between October 1976 and March 1977 as an off-spinner. He is one of two New Zealand bowlers to achieve ...
of New Zealand had just done the first hat-trick ever on debut, so it would have been 12 months to the day and it would have been a unique place in history." "But Mike in landing got a lot of gravel on the back of his hand. Iqqie left the field and all the lads were up there when suddenly Brears started saying, ‘I’m going to bring him back because I don't think I caught it cleanly.' All the lads around him were adamant he had caught it a foot off the ground, but he said, 'No, for the best interests of this series I'm going to bring him back.' So he brought him back – and for the best interests of the series, six of us were lbw in our first innings. It happened, but it was a moment of disappointment because something like that on a Test debut is very special. As somebody once said, 'If bad luck hadn't been invented, we'd have had none at all!'"
Cope took 686 first-class wickets in 246 games, with a best of 8 for 73 against
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
at
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in 1975. His average of 24.70 compares favourably with other similar bowlers of his generation. He took his largest seasonal haul, 93 wickets at 24.13, in 1976 and averaged just 13.82 with the ball in taking 40 wickets in 1967.
He scored several first-class fifties, usually grinding affairs to stave off defeat, but never scored a century in any form of cricket. He often was sent in as a stolid
nightwatchman, and opened on occasion in emergencies. He scored most of his runs with nicks and deflections behind the wicket. His highest knock was 78 against
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
at
Acklam Park
Acklam Park is a rugby union and cricket ground located in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Initially opened in 1929, the venue has hosted games of Middlesbrough RUFC since the ground's opening in 1929, as well as Middlesbrough Cricket ...
,
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
in 1977.
After leaving the first-class game he played for Yeadon Cricket Club, helping develop the club and the ground, before finally retiring from the game completely at 40. He was elected to the Yorkshire Committee after
Brian Close retired from his seat, and appointed Yorkshire's Director of Cricket in 2002. "It's a very hard task but I'm thoroughly enjoying it," Cope said. "It's a wonderful opportunity and I've got to make the most of it."
Cope began his playing career wearing
glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples ...
and, in 1972, turned to contact lenses. Further deterioration in his sight left him officially registered blind, but though his
peripheral vision
Peripheral vision, or ''indirect vision'', is vision as it occurs outside the point of fixation, i.e. away from the center of gaze or, when viewed at large angles, in (or out of) the "corner of one's eye". The vast majority of the area in th ...
is very poor, he can still see directly in front of him and watch play on the field.
Geoff Cope is a vice president at
FC Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
. In 2019 he was elected president of
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...
for three years.
References
External links
Sunday Times article 14 March, 2010*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Geoff
1947 births
Living people
Yorkshire cricketers
England Test cricketers
England One Day International cricketers
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1946 to 1968
English cricketers of 1969 to 2000
People from Burmantofts
Lincolnshire cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
D. H. Robins' XI cricketers
FC Halifax Town non-playing staff
Cricketers from West Yorkshire