Lives in Cricket No 6 - Bill Copson

road on top of the bank behind. Cross bat, back foot, straight six . . . the knowledgeable will understand.’ Finally, he recalled his partisan response to an incident in a Test match 44 in 1939 about Copson’s fielding: ‘I recall the hatred with which I listened to the pre-war Test commentary on the radio, when there was a constant applause for fine fielding under the pavilion rails and at length the commentator said, ‘Oh yes, that was another fine cut off and throw.’ Yes, it was Bill of course, not getting his fair share of publicity as usual and, if my hatred for the supercilious Southerner who was commentating, could have been transmitted back over the ether, Howard Marshall would have been fatally fused to his microphone.’ * * * * * How should William Henry Copson be rated overall as a bowler? He was one of a considerable number of first-class cricketers whose careers were very severely affected by the Second World War. He had been a late starter in county cricket, at the age of 24. He was thirty one years of age in 1939 and had overcome a number of injury problems to gain Test match status that summer. It is highly likely that he would have gained more Test match recognition in the following seasons and very possibly been selected for a second tour to Australia which was scheduled for the winter of 1940/41. He always caused batsmen a great deal of trouble with his deceptive pace off the pitch and was at his best when used in short spells. It was not often that his bowling was collared. Bill was five feet eleven and a half inches tall and had a wiry supple frame. He was a man of very few words, quietly spoken and certainly not a person ever to talk much about himself: ‘not particularly forthcoming’ one fellow player said. Like many of his generation and background, he instinctively withdrew from any action which seemed to be self-promotion. This can best be seen in an incident at Saltaire in August 1944, where he rescued a four year old boy who had fallen into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. ‘He slid into the water and supporting himself on the bank with one Umpiring and Retirement 83 44 Probably the Lord’s Test match against the West Indies in 1939, Bill’s first, when P.F.Warner praised his fielding.