Sydney Herbert Copley (1 November 1905 – 1 April 1986) was a cricketer who played one first-class match for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in 1930. He was born in

Hucknall Hucknall, formerly Hucknall Torkard, is a market town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies 7 miles north of Nottingham, 7 miles south-east of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, 9 miles from Mansfield and 10 miles south of Sutton-in ...

, and died on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. A right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, he scored 4 and 3 in his only first-class match against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and bowled 5 overs of slow left-arm spin for 28 without success. He played for Nottinghamshire Second XI from 1924 to 1931. His fame rests on his appearance as "13th man" for England on the final day of the 1930

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. On the last day of the test match, Harold Larwood had been taken ill with gastritis so Copley was asked to field as a substitute. Without Larwood, the England attack was seriously weakened, enabling Don Bradman and Stan McCabe to quickly add 77 for the fourth wicket. McCabe struck a ball from Maurice Tate towards the long on boundary. Copley was fielding at deep mid on which is well short of the boundary. He had to dive full length to his right so he could catch the ball just before it made contact with the ground. He managed to hold it despite his momentum causing him to roll over. It is generally agreed that his catch was the turning point of the match, which England went on to win by 93 runs. From 1939 to 1975, Copley was cricket coach and head groundsman at

King William's College King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...

on the Isle of Man.''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' 1987, p. 1229.

References

* Smith, Martin (editor). ''The Promise of Endless Summer (Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph)''. Aurum (2013).

External links

Syd Copley
at Cricinfo {{DEFAULTSORT:Copley, Syd 1905 births 1986 deaths English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Sportspeople from Hucknall Cricketers from Nottinghamshire