Lives in Cricket No 6 - Bill Copson

With the weakest batting of any of the counties, Derbyshire had a poor season and slipped to fifteenth position in the Championship. John Shawcroft later wrote that ‘on the hard dry pitches of the parched summer . . . Derbyshire sometimes wore a jaded look.’ They had a new captain, David Skinner, who, though maintaining the amateur tradition, had played in only one first-class match before taking up the position. 35 He was therefore the fifth county captain under whom Copson served in his twelve seasons with the team. Derbyshire only won six of their Championship games. They won their two opening matches, but did not taste victory again until 28 June. After defeating Somerset at Taunton very comfortably by an innings in two days for their fifth victory on 20 July, they then went a further nine games without a win until their last outing of the season when they again had another handsome two day innings victory, this time against Essex, at Burton-on-Trent. In this match, Copson, Gladwin and Jackson bowled out their opponents twice in a day. Final First-Class Seasons 75 A modest living. Bill Copson’s Clay Cross home for many years, 59 The Broadleys, is the left hand end of this white painted terrace. A shop in his time, it is now a vet’s practice. 35 He was the younger brother of Alan Skinner, who had played 83 games for Derbyshire between 1931 and 1938, captaining the side in 28 of them.