Lives in Cricket No 6 - Bill Copson

Les Jackson and Gladwin again bowled well and both appeared for England against New Zealand. The county badly missed George Pope who had asked to be released from his contract on account of his wife’s serious illness. Gladwin narrowly missed the ‘double’ just failing to reach a thousand runs. Generally the Derbyshire batting disappointed during the whole of the summer. Copson’s last match of the season was again for North versus South at Kingston-upon-Thames. * * * * * Copson, at the age of 41, had now officially retired from the first-class game and it was announced that he would play in the Bradford League for Lidget Green in 1950. He had taken a post as a fitter in the Plant Maintenance Department with the Clay Cross Company, which as we have seen was owned and controlled by the Jackson family, who still had strong connections with the Derbyshire club. 36 He also helped out temporarily as county coach this season for a period. Derbyshire, with Les Jackson and Gladwin opening the bowling, had a much more satisfactory summer and finished fifth in the county table. Bill was free to play cricket on Saturday afternoons, which involved driving to Bradford and back from his home in Clay Cross, a round trip of ninety miles in weekend traffic, along ordinary roads through towns and villages. He was recalled by Derbyshire to play one midweek first-class match this year, when Leslie Jackson was playing in the famous Test Trial at Bradford, in which Jim Laker performed his exceptional bowling of taking eight wickets for two runs. Copson, in his last ever first-class match, took two wickets in the game, versus Leicestershire at Grace Road, Leicester, with his final wicket being Charles Palmer, the home side captain, caught by George Dawkes behind the stumps for 22. His last innings as a batsman was a modest nought not out, the thirty first such score in his first-class career. 76 Final First-Class Seasons 36 Michael Copson says that ‘whenever his father was required on cricketing duties, either as a player or an umpire, there was always a job for him at the Clay Cross Company when the season ended.’