Norman Sidney Cooley (16 January 1941 – 9 February 2024) was an English cricketer and footballer. Cooley was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Meppershall, Bedfordshire.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Norman Sidney Cooley | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 16 January 1941 Meppershall, Bedfordshire | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 February 2024 (aged 83) Kempston, Bedfordshire | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1962–1975 | Bedfordshire | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: Cricinfo, 10 August 2011 | |||||||||||||||
Cooley made his debut for Bedfordshire against Hertfordshire in the 1962 Minor Counties Championship. He played Minor counties cricket for Bedfordshire from 1962 to 1975, making 59 Minor Counties Championship appearances.[1] In 1964, he scored centuries in both innings of a match against Lincolnshire becoming the first Bedfordshire player to achieve the feat in Minor counties cricket.[2] He made his List A debut against Northamptonshire in the 1972 Gillette Cup. He made four further List A appearances, the last of which came against Lancashire in the 1973 Gillette Cup.[3] In his five List A matches, he scored 58 runs at an average of 14.50, with a high score of 20 not out.[4]
Cooley had another string to his bow, as one of the few to have successfully combined a cricketing with a footballing career. He played 738 games for Bedford Town F.C. in the Southern League between 1960 and 1977, scoring a career total of 73 goals, and later served as the club's youth coach and groundsman.[5] He also worked as head groundsman at Bedford School between 1975 and 2000.[6] His brother John played rugby union for Northampton, Bedford and East Midlands.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Norman Cooley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Norman Cooley: Sporting community remembers "one of Bedford's greatest"". Bedford Independent. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "List A Matches played by Norman Cooley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ "List A Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Norman Cooley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ "Norman Cooley (1941-2024)". pitchero.com - Bedford Town FC. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Norman Cooley". Bedford School. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Bedfordoldeagles - Best Years Players C-E".
- ^ "Norman Cooley". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 October 2024.