Richard Cooper (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Richard Claude Cooper played cricket
for Wiltshire
in the Minor Counties between 1967 and 1989 and had one season as a first-class cricket
er for Somerset
in 1972. He appeared in just one first-class match, but had a much longer career in List A cricket for Wiltshire, Somerset and Minor Counties representative teams. He was born at Malmesbury
, Wiltshire
and died suddenly of a heart attack at Crudwell
, Wiltshire.
Cooper was a burly, hard-hitting right-handed middle-order batsman and an irregular right-arm medium-pace bowler whose physique and style brought comparisons with Colin Milburn
. He played for Wiltshire from 1967 and in 1970 made two centuries in the match against Somerset's Second Eleven in the Minor Counties Championship. He was then recruited to the first-class game by Somerset for the 1972 season. Business commitments restricted his first-class appearances for Somerset to just one, in which he scored only four runs, but he played fairly regularly in List A cricket and an innings of 95 in his first Benson and Hedges Cup game, against the Minor Counties, won him the Gold Award for the match. Wisden
noted that he showed "flair and temperament" and that he "proved to be a composed, powerful straight hitter in the one-day games". However, in 1973 he remained in Somerset's second team, making no first-team appearances, and following a further unproductive year in 1974 he returned to Wiltshire.
As a Minor Counties player, he appeared in representative sides in the major List A competitions in 1975 and 1976, and again for Wiltshire between 1983 and 1989. In Minor Counties cricket, he scored more than 5000 runs for Wiltshire and was captain of the side right up to 1989, the season before his early death.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for Wiltshire
Wiltshire County Cricket Club
Wiltshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Wiltshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy....
in the Minor Counties between 1967 and 1989 and had one season as a first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
er for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
in 1972. He appeared in just one first-class match, but had a much longer career in List A cricket for Wiltshire, Somerset and Minor Counties representative teams. He was born at Malmesbury
Malmesbury
Malmesbury is a market town and civil parish located in the southern Cotswolds in the county of Wiltshire, England. Historically Malmesbury was a centre for learning and home to Malmesbury Abbey...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
and died suddenly of a heart attack at Crudwell
Crudwell
Crudwell is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Malmesbury, about away to the south west.Crudwell includes the hamlet of Chedglow, which is away to the west. The Fosseway is both the parish and county boundary...
, Wiltshire.
Cooper was a burly, hard-hitting right-handed middle-order batsman and an irregular right-arm medium-pace bowler whose physique and style brought comparisons with Colin Milburn
Colin Milburn
Colin Milburn was an English cricketer, who played in nine Test matches for England, before an accident led to the loss of much of his sight and prompted his retirement....
. He played for Wiltshire from 1967 and in 1970 made two centuries in the match against Somerset's Second Eleven in the Minor Counties Championship. He was then recruited to the first-class game by Somerset for the 1972 season. Business commitments restricted his first-class appearances for Somerset to just one, in which he scored only four runs, but he played fairly regularly in List A cricket and an innings of 95 in his first Benson and Hedges Cup game, against the Minor Counties, won him the Gold Award for the match. Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
noted that he showed "flair and temperament" and that he "proved to be a composed, powerful straight hitter in the one-day games". However, in 1973 he remained in Somerset's second team, making no first-team appearances, and following a further unproductive year in 1974 he returned to Wiltshire.
As a Minor Counties player, he appeared in representative sides in the major List A competitions in 1975 and 1976, and again for Wiltshire between 1983 and 1989. In Minor Counties cricket, he scored more than 5000 runs for Wiltshire and was captain of the side right up to 1989, the season before his early death.