William Cropper - born 1930 - died 1971.

Cricket Career 1949 - 1971. Right hand bat, right arm off break.

Another charismatic character, who lived most of his life in New Road. Bill was not just a cricketer, he played football for Tintwistle Villa whilst being an accomplished tennis and badminton player - his quick nimbleness and footwork belying his large frame. During his cricket career, he was Vice captain to Graham Wood from 1959 - 1969. In 1970 he led the 2^nd X1 to the Glossop & District League Double (Championship and Cup). The following year his team won the Championship again but were narrowly defeated in the knock-out cup final at Broadbottom. Those two years were the most successful for any 2^nd X1 team in the Clubs history. All of this success was down to Bills captaincy, bringing out the very best of all his players. In the mid 1960’s Bill had an accident at his place of work (Volcrepe) which resulted in him losing several fingers from one of his hands. He had a special batting glove adapted, and continued to play without any obvious difficulty (a measure of the man!). Bill tragically died at the young age of 41. During his time with the Club, he served on the Committee, was Secretary from 1958 - 1960 and Groundsman from 1959 - 1971.