Nottinghamshire's highly respected Cricket Development Manager John Cope has announced that he will be retiring from his post at the end of the 2001 cricket season.

John was the first Development Officer to be appointed in the country in 1981 and during the past 20 years he has overseen a whole catalogue of highly successful schemes.

These include; the introduction of the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board, the programme of cricket activities in the Radcliffe Road Stand at Trent Bridge, the development of a wide range of coaching courses, inner city programmes, cricket in the community including matches for disabled cricketers, the expansion of women's cricket and one of the best youth development programmes in England.

Much of this work has been financed by the Cricket Foundation, a body funded by the ECB, the 18 first-class counties and the MCC. John is a trustee of the Cricket Foundation at national level and is widely recognised as one of the leading Cricket Development Managers in England .

Said John: "When I was appointed by Ken Taylor I was stepping very much into the unknown. My brief was to work with people in the recreational game for the promotion and betterment of cricket.

"Things have moved on tremendously since then, particularly in the last four or five years since the ECB was formed and I hope I have helped to lay some solid foundations to allow the work to carry on."

Chairman of the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Barry Pailing commented: "The Nottinghamshire Cricket Board will be very sorry to lose John at the end of this season. Cricket throughout the county has made significant progress thanks to his leadership and his commitment to the development of the game across all age groups, abilities and social circumstances.

"Last season Nottinghamshire won the national PPP award for the best development programme in the country and we realise that John will be a very hard act to follow. We wish John and his wife, Betty, every happiness in their retirement and thank him for his enormous contribution to cricket development in the County."

© Notts CCC