In Sunshine and in Shadow: Geoff Cope and Yorkshire Cricket

Often humorous, sometimes sad, this is the story of Geoff Cope, a man who played cricket for Yorkshire and England, who helped to save his county club from bankruptcy and who, in recent years, has raised more than GBP200,000 for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. it is a story full of ups and downs: early success, followed by time out of the game remodelling his bowling action; a Test match hat-trick when his joy lasted barely a minute; the drama of the days that led to his joining the four-man board that rescued Yorkshire; and the diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa, a gradual loss of eyesight that now leaves him reliant on a guide dog. The most popular of men, he remains cheerful, and in this book he talks with a warm humanity and plenty of humour about his life and about the many characters he has known. With his great gift for bringing alive the past, it is a lively and an inspiring tale.

About the Author :
Stephen Chalke has been exploring cricket's past since the mid-1990s, mostly as an oral historian, interviewing former players and administrators. His first book, `Runs in the Memory', a portrait of county cricket in the 1950s, was Frank Keating's Sports Book of the Year in the Guardian, and he has followed this with several award-winning titles. `At the Heart of English Cricket' - based on the life and memories of the former administrator Geoffrey Howard - was The Cricket Society Book of the Year while his collaborations with Bob Appleyard (`No Coward Soul') and Tom Cartwright (`The Flame Still Burns') were both the Wisden Book of the Year. For ten years he was a regular contributor to the Wisden Cricketer magazine, and he has also written for The Times and the Independent. A collection of his articles, `The Way It Was', won the National Sporting Club's Cricket Book of the Year award, and his history of the county championship, `Summer's Crown', a book sponsored by the England and Wales Cricket Board, was the Cricket Writers' Club's Book of the Year.

Review :
"A warm book, very much in keeping with Chalke's previous works with former players, a book that does not shirk difficult subjects but, above all, successfully conveys the joy of sport, its characters and its friendships. Cope's involvement with Yorkshire cricket now spans more than half a century, and the book provides a compelling and often comical insight into the Yorkshire side of his playing days. It is undoubtedly the cricket book of 2017." - Chris Waters, Yorkshire Post. "One of the most readable sports books in many years." - Yorkshire County Cricket Club website. "What a fabulous book! A lovely read. Geoff Cope's warmth really comes through. There were parts where I felt as if I was sat in the dressing room with him - and parts where it made me want to cry. I read so many cricket books that have the same stories in them, but this was so fresh. I learned so much that was new. I can't rate it highly enough. I am going to tell all my cricketing friends to read it." - A reader in Yorkshire