Tommy Cook (sportsman)

This article is about the English footballer and cricketer. For the American actor with the same name, see Tommy Cook (actor).

Tommy Cook
Personal information
Full name Thomas Edwin Reed Cook
Date of birth (1901-01-05)5 January 1901
Place of birth Cuckfield, Sussex, England
Date of death 15 January 1950(1950-01-15) (aged 49)
Place of death Brighton, Sussex, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–1921 Cuckfield Town F.C.
1921–1930 Brighton & Hove Albion (114)
1930–1931 Northfleet United
1931–1933 Bristol Rovers
International career
1925 England 1 (0)
Managerial career
1947–1948 Brighton & Hove Albion
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Tommy Cook
Personal information
Full name
Thomas Edwin Reed Cook
Born(1901-01-05)5 January 1901
Cuckfield, Sussex, England
Died15 January 1950(1950-01-15) (aged 49)
Brighton, Sussex, England
NicknameTommy
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-pace
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1922–1937Sussex
First-class debut1 July 1922 Sussex v Leicestershire
Last First-class3 September 1937 Sussex v Surrey
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 460
Runs scored 20198
Batting average 30.37
100s/50s 32/98
Top score 278
Balls bowled 6530
Wickets 80
Bowling average 36.00
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 5/24
Catches/stumpings 169/1
Source: CricketArchive, 5 May 2014

Thomas Edwin Reed Cook (5 January 1901 – 15 January 1950) was an English sportsman. He played professional football, playing as a centre-forward and additionally had a substantial career in First-Class cricket primarily as a batsman.

Football career

Cook commenced his football career with his home-town club Cuckfield Town. In 1921 he signed as an amateur with Football League Third Division South club Brighton & Hove Albion and turned professional in 1923 and remained with Brighton & Hove until 1930. Cook remains Brighton's all-time top scorer, with 123 goals from 209 games played. In 1930 he moved on to Kent League club Northfleet United remaining for one season. Thereafter he moved on in 1931 for two seasons with Football League Third Division South Bristol Rovers after which, aged 32, he retired from football and focused on his cricket career.

In February 1925 Cook became Brighton’s first player to play for England after he made one appearance for England in a British Home Championship match against Wales.[1]

In June 1947 Cook returned to Brighton & Hove Albion as team manager but after a few difficult months in which the team won only 3 from 17 matches he lost his job.[2]

Cricket career

Primarily a right-handed batsman and also an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler he was recruited to Sussex County Cricket Club after being spotted playing for Cuckfield's second X1.[2] Cook played 460 first-class games over a 15 year career for Sussex.[3] He scored 20,198 runs with 32 centuries and a highest score of 278 runs. As a bowler he took 60 wickets with one 5 wicket innings. He was prolific in the seasons of 1933 and 1934 when Sussex were County Championship runners-up.

Non-Sporting Life

Born in Cuckfield, Sussex Cook married twice. Firstly in 1925, then after divorce in April 1931 he remarried later that same year.[1]

Cook served in both world wars. In World War I he enlisted into the Royal Navy when only 16 years old and while serving in Russia he won a medal after diving into the freezing sea to save a shipmate's life. In World War 2 he signed-up to the Royal Air Force and in 1943, when attached to the South African Air Force, was involved in an air training crash in which he suffered physical and mental injuries and was hospitalised for six months.[2]

He died by taking his own life in 1950, overdosing on sleeping pills, ten days after his 49th birthday.[1]

In 2021 a book of his life and his highly successful careers with Brighton & Hove Albion and Sussex County Cricket Club entitled Tommy Cook, The Double Life of a Superstar Sportsman was published[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "England players: Tommy Cook". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin & Glen Isherwood. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Heath, Jacob (17 January 2019). "The story of Tommy Cook: Sussex's greatest ever sportsman and hero of both World Wars". Sussex Express. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Thomas Cook". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  4. ^ Dunford, Mark (9 January 2021). "New book is a fitting tribute to Brighton & Hove's top scorer Tommy Cook". Sussex Express. Retrieved 24 May 2022.