William Thomas Cook (6 December 1891 – 22 September 1969) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He played 39 first-class matches between 1921 and 1933, mainly for

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South Londo ...

.William Cook

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 12 March 2017. Born at

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

in 1891, Cook has what ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described as "a life-long association with Surrey cricket".Obituaries in 1969, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1970.
Available online
at

. Retrieved 26 June 2025.) Although between 1921 and 1933 he only made 32 first-class appearances for the side, he was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

in 1924 and captained the county's Second XI "with distinction for many years".William Cook
CricketArchive. Retrieve 26 June 2025. Considered a "left-handed batsman of no mean skill", Cook played at a time when Surrey's batting was "immensely strong". Professionally he worked in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and this made it difficult for him to play county cricket regularly. He made seven appearances for Surrey in 1921, ten in 1924, and five in 1926, but otherwise did not play for the First XI more than three times in a season at any point; during 1923 and 1925 he did not play at all for the senior side. He scored 1,441 first-class runs, 1,032 of which were for Surrey, and made made six half-centuries. Cook was, however, able to find time for the shorter

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

matches that the county Second XI played, making 154 appearances in the competition for Surrey between 1920 and 1935. He scored 7,771 Championship runs, making centuries in every season between 1920 and 1933 other than in 1924. He also played club cricket for civil service sides. As well as his 32 first-class appearances for Surrey, Cook played five first-class matches for Minor Counties sides, including against the touring West Indians in 1928, the South Africans in 1929, and the New Zealanders in 1931. His highest first-class score of 92 came for Minor Counties against the South Africans at

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

. He played other first-class matches for the Civil Service against the touring New Zealanders in 1927―the only first-class match the Civil Service played―and for the

Gentlemen against the Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

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in 1932. A member of the Surrey committee for most of the period between 1932 and 1968,Surrey Committee Member William Thomas Cook
CricketHistory. Retrieved 26 June 2025. ''Wisden'' considered that Cook's most significant contribution to Surrey was his role in the appointment of

Stuart Surridge Walter Stuart Surridge (3 September 1917 – 13 April 1992) was an English first-class cricketer who captained Surrey County Cricket Club. Neither a remarkable batsman nor bowler, Surridge was one of the most successful team captains in the hi ...

as captain in 1952. Surrey went on to win five successive

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

s. Cook died at

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American biographical film about Shirley Jackson * ''Shirley'' ( ...

in London in 1969. He was aged 77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, William 1891 births 1969 deaths English cricketers Surrey cricketers People from Walworth Cricketers from the London Borough of Southwark Minor Counties cricketers Civil Service cricketers English civil servants 20th-century English sportsmen