St George’s Wicket Taking Machine Calls Time – Trent Copeland, Life Member No.59
St George Cricket Club | July 22, 2023
I was going to title this piece, “Bowling Machine Calls Time”, because Trent Copeland could bowl and bowl and bowl…. and then he would want to bowl some more. However, I then realised that batsmen tend to enjoy batting against bowling machines and so this title was not worthy.
Trent Copeland destroyed batsman. His stats don’t lie. He destroyed their averages; he destroyed their premiership dreams and quite often he destroyed their confidence and hope. At St George, we know the legend all too well. The keeper/batsman that became one of the best bowlers of a generation. We don’t need to hear it again, but let’s take a trip down memory lane and re-visit what was written about Trent in the annual report after converting from wicket keeping to bowling.
First, let me paint the picture, if I may indulge just a little. Trent was playing Third Grade and off the back of some amazing performances, the team finished the season in third position and went onto to win the premiership after Trent claimed seven wickets in the final.
“Of course, no one stepped up to the plate quite in the same fashion as Trent Copeland. In last year’s report, I wrote about our wicket keeper being a “frustrated bowler” waiting to emerge. It was a slow start initially, but by the end of the season Trent was devastating with his bowling, and thankfully for his team, his batting didn’t go by the wayside. His century and 75 against Easts in the preliminary final and final were beautiful innings and outlined why Trent was more than a worthy Player of The Season for the club. Trent’s figures speak for themselves. Amazing! Congrats Trent on a magnificent season.”
Warren Saunders loved the story so much; he made me retell it to all the club legends at a Life Member’s lunch a few years back. What was there not to love about the rise and rise of Trent Copeland. The news of his retirement was only overshadowed in the “sadness department” by the passing of Warren and then Brian Booth very recently. Trent had some wonderful similarities to Brian. Both wiry athletes hailing from Bathurst with skills in other sports, particularly hockey, where Trent also represented St George at Premier League level until he had to pack his stick away upon earning his first Shield contract. Both men admired Trent’s abilities and successes immensely.
Who didn’t love following the wicket taking exploits of Trent Copeland over many, many seasons. We also loved that his passion and commitment to St George never waned throughout that amazing First Class career. This to me is why Trent can sit comfortably amongst the likes of Warren and Brian. True Saints with an undeniable love for our amazing club.
With a career like Trent’s, one must soak in the statistics. They are truly remarkable.
Trent finished with 410 First Class wickets. Six for Australia and 344 for NSW in the Sheffield Shield which sees him finish 12th on the all-time list of Australian bowlers and 3rd for NSW behind Geoff Lawson and Greg Matthews. Let’s not dismiss his all-round abilities. Copeland was good enough to score a shield century, 106 vs Tasmania in Hobart. He finished with 2163 First Class runs, as well as 111 catches.
Now onto his stats for St George……
465 wickets across all grades, 496 including PGs. 423 of those wickets in First Grade at the amazing average of 17.95. This included the 16 occasions he took five or more wickets in an innings (Usually more than five). He finished with 4527 runs across all grades, 5037 including PGs. All up he scored four centuries, two of which were in First Grade where he scored 3499 runs at 25.92. His skinny little digits also managed to hold on to 99 catches in the field. We delve further back to those first seasons at the Saints where he claimed 63 dismissals as a wicket keeper with 55 catches and 8 stumpings.
There’s a consensus in the grade/district cricketing world that if you’ve been around for a while and managed to win a premiership, you’ve done very, very well. There are many cricketers out there who have played year after year and never enjoyed the mixture of beer and Tarn-Off from those historic pieces of silverware, including the Belvidere Cup. Well get this. Trent has won an almighty eight premierships in his time with St George including four First Grade flags. At one stage during those PG years, he had won more premierships than he’d played seasons. Just remarkable!
Choosing a highlight in a career jam packed with highlights would be like picking a favourite child. Trent begrudgingly, but not surprisingly picks the “Threepeat” of 2009/10.
The Saints looked gone in the final against Sutherland at Bankstown Oval only for Copeland to make the game his own in the 2nd innings, claiming 8/58 to set up the victory. Not surprisingly, he was awarded the John Benaud Medal for Player of the Final as well as taking out the coveted Bill O’Reilly Medal for Sydney Grade Player of the Year.
It was our 99th season at St George. The club took out the Club Championship, won premierships in First and Second Grade, were runners up in Thirds, Fourths and PGs and semi-finalists in Fifth Grade. Trent, following up his unbelievable 66 wickets the season before, finished with 67 wickets, including an amazing seven occasions where he had five or more wicket hauls. What is even more remarkable about that season was Trent missed several games. Thanks to some good Second XI performances and a spate of injuries, Trent was chosen to make his Sheffield Shield debut and once again he found a way to work his name into the history books. He claimed the second greatest figures on debut in NSW history with 8/92. He ended up playing five Shield games that season and claimed 35 wickets at 17.57. It was the start of something very special. Those wickets, combined with his 67 wickets for the Saints at 12.58 gave him a jaw dropping 102 wickets for the season, not including Second XI games. I think we have a favourite child right there!
No wonder a full page in the 2009/10 Annual Report was dedicated to Trent Copeland, “The Bowler”. In that article, he was quoted as saying, “Bowling wise, I aspire to be someone like Glenn McGrath or Stuart Clark. Guys who bowl consistent line and length and do a bit with the ball off the wicket”. This was Copeland at just 23 years of age, after just a handful of years as a pace bowler. Mission accomplished.
Australia’s fascination with flat out pace bowling saw the likes of Mitchell Starc jump ahead of Copeland and his aspirations of playing further cricket for Australia after just three tests in Sri Lanka in 2011. Seemingly unfazed, Trent got on with business and churned out an amazing career for NSW that aside from the countless scalps, also yielded two Sheffield Shield successes and two Limited Overs titles. Like all pace bowlers, there were times when we thought injuries would finish him off, but he had a way of bouncing back that surprised none of us at St George. This is the mark of a true champion and his 52 wickets in the 18/19 Shield season, the best by a NSW pace bowler, underlined his tenacity and competitiveness.
Throughout all the successes and thousands of deliveries for NSW, Trent rarely missed an opportunity to come back and put on the Saints “hoops”. There was never a time where he played for our club in recent years without the same level of intensity and desire. For many of his contemporaries at St George District Cricket Club, this is what defined him. His passion for the club also helped bring success off the field. He has assisted in bringing talent, like our most recent NSW Shield player, Blake Macdonald, to the club. Then, there is his undeniable talent for speaking and game analysis, often taking centre stage at our club functions and events. We are confident that he’ll have a long and prosperous career in the media.
For now though, family life beckons and I think we could all attest to being richer for having crossed paths with this highly competitive and multi skilled cricketer from Bathurst. Thanks for the memories “Copes” ….. and the premierships.
