Geoff Cope
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| Full name | Geoffrey Alan Cope | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
23 February 1947 Burmantofts, Leeds, Yorkshire, England |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm off spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: [1], 1 January 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Geoff Cope (born Geoffrey Alan Cope in 1947) played first-class cricket for Yorkshire from 1966 to 1980, and appeared in three Test matches for England. And as a young teen he played for a team called the Wharfdale ramberlers
Born on 23 February 1947, Burmantofts, Leeds, Yorkshire as the son of a French polisher, 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 at Bradford Park Avenue with Ray Illingworth 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 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 and a lot of other people have said, 'Geoff, there's nothing wrong; if you were guilty, then an awful lot of others were.' I think that's a fair comment; it was just one of those periods." 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".
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