{{short description|Irish cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Ken Hope | image = | caption = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Off spin | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 9 | runs1 = 75 | bat avg1 = 6.81 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 21 | deliveries1 = 958 | wickets1 = 12 | bowl avg1 = 28.25 | fivefor1 = 1 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 6/59 | catches/stumpings1= 5/– | international = true | country = Ireland | source = http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/26/26782/26782.html CricketArchive | date = 16 November | year = 2022 }}
'''Kenneth William Hope''' (born 3 May 1939)<ref name="CAP">[http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/26/26782/26782.html Cricket Archive profile]</ref> is an Irish former cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler,<ref name="CAP" /> he played thirteen times for the Ireland cricket team between 1958 and 1966<ref name="CESZP">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/irelandall/ire131.htm |title=CricketEurope Stats Zone profile |access-date=13 May 2007 |archive-date=24 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524015132/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CSTATZ/irelandall/ire131.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> including nine first-class matches.<ref name="FCM">[http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/26/26782/First-Class_Matches.html First-class matches played by Ken Hope at Cricket Archive]</ref>
==Playing career==
Hope first played for Ireland in July 1958 against Scotland<ref name="CESZP" /> in a first-class match<ref name="FCM" /> at the age of 19.<ref name="CAP" /> He had a poor debut, scoring five not out and taking 0/13. His second match, against the MCC in September the same year was even worse, with the same match bowling figures and scoring just one run in the match.<ref name="CESZP" />
Despite this poor start to his career he played five times for Ireland in 1959, playing against Scotland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and the MCC. He played three times in 1960, against Scotland, Leicestershire and the MCC, and twice in 1961 against Leicestershire and Scotland. He did not play again for Ireland until September 1966, when he returned for one final match, against the MCC.<ref name="CESZP" />
==Statistics==
In all matches for Ireland, he scored 98 runs at an average of 6.53, with a highest score of 21 against the MCC in September 1960. He took 26 wickets at an average of 21.35, with best bowling figures of 6/59 against Scotland in June 1960, the only time he took five wickets in an innings.<ref name="CESZP" /> In first-class cricket, he scored 75 runs at an average of 6.81 and took twelve wickets at an average of 28.25.<ref name="CAP" />
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Ken}} Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:Irish cricketers Category:Cricketers from County Laois Category:People educated at Wesley College, Dublin Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen