William Cooper (cricketer)

William Cooper

Personal information
Full name	William Henry Cooper
Born	(1849-09-11)11 September 1849 Maidstone, Kent, England
Died	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Leg break
Relations	Paul Sheahan (great-grandson)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut	31 December 1881 v England
Last Test	12 December 1884 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1878–1883	Victoria
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 2 26 Runs scored 13 247 Batting average 6.50 10.29 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 Top score 7 46 Balls bowled 446 3,162 Wickets 9 71 Bowling average 25.11 24.49 5 wickets in innings 1 5 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 6/120 7/37 Catches/stumpings 1/– 16/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 23 October 2010

File:1884 Australia national cricket team.jpg

Cooper 1st left (front row) pictured with the 1884 Australia national cricket team

William Henry Cooper (11 September 1849 in Maidstone, Kent – 5 April 1939 in Melbourne) was an Australian cricketer who played in two Tests between 1881 and 1884. He took six wickets on debut in the second innings against England in Melbourne in 1882.

Born and raised in Kent he came to Australia as an adult and didn't start playing competitive cricket until the age of 27. He returned to England as part of Billy Murdoch's 1884 tour.

A handy leg-break bowler, he was also noted for his services to Victorian Cricket where after his playing days he served as a state selector and later as vice president of the Victorian Cricket Association.

His great grandson, Paul Sheahan, also played Test cricket for Australia.

See also

• List of Victoria first-class cricketers

External links

• Cricinfo article on William Cooper