Lawrence Cook (born Lawrence Whalley;28 March 1884 –2 December 1933) was an English cricketer and footballer.
Following in the footsteps of brother Billy Cook,Lawrence first came to notice playing for Penwortham Cricket Club. In one game in 1902 he had bowling figures of 9 wickets for 9 runs,yet it was a game Penwortham failed to win. [1] He subsequently had spells as a professional with Lytham Cricket Club,Liverpool Cricket Club,and then Preston Cricket Club. [2]
In 1907 he played his first games for the Lancashire County Cricket Club. His career at county level was somewhat unusual. For most of the time he was not a regular member of the senior eleven as many bowlers competed for two or three places,but near its end in his mid-thirties Cook bowled so well that some expected him to be chosen for the difficult 1920/1921 Ashes tour. He was not chosen,and indeed never played for England even during the disastrous 1921 series when thirty players were used to find a winning combination. Nonetheless,shrewd judges are unanimous that Cook was not the bowler for Test matches against a formidable batting side on rock-hard pitches.
Lawrence emerged as a bowler of fast-medium pace,possibly meant to substitute for Walter Brearley who was then engaged in one of his many disputes with the Lancashire committee. Although he took a wicket with his first ball in first-class cricket,on the whole his record for that season was moderate,but with seven wickets on a rare hard pitch against Kent at Canterbury he showed he had great persistence. When Brearley came back into the eleven in 1908,Cook was relegated to the Second Eleven,but in 1910 he re-established in place and in the May following year,helped by a bad pitch and feeble Northamptonshire batting,he bowled with considerable pace and a lot of spin to take eight wickets for 39 runs. Cook indeed bowled so well early that season that Lancashire seemed to have found an excellent pace bowler when Brearley could not play. However,he was felt impossible to fit in when that fast bowler was free from business and on returning to the side he did not maintain his early season form,nor did he do anything of note against the top counties.
The years 1912 to 1914 saw Lancashire,even with Brearley gone,aim to stabilise their bowling lineup. This left no room for Cook - he was probably passed over in favour of men who could bat better. During World War I,Lawrence Cook served in the Army,and he was not demobilised until well after the 1919 season commenced.
When he returned,however,Cook - now bowling at a slower pace than in 1911 - immediately became,for the first time,indispensable to Lancashire. Although he still failed to achieve much against strong counties,he did a notable performance against Gloucestershire with nine for 49,and was second in the Lancashire bowling averages. 1920,however,saw Cook jump right to the top of the tree with 156 first-class wickets for less than fifteen runs each,and some notable performances in tandem with Harry Dean and Cecil Parkin,notably against Kent at Old Trafford in July. Although he did not have the honour of representing the Players or touring Australia,Cook would no doubt have been chosen as a Cricketer of the Year by Wisden but for the special portrait of Pelham Warner to commemorate Middlesex's Championship win. In the dry summer of 1921,Cook showed himself to be one of the most tireless and consistent workhorses in county cricket,even if no selector thought he had enough sting to be a Test match bowler. He took 151 wickets without one haul of seven in an innings,and in 1922 he maintained his accuracy and spin notably when taking seven for 23 on a crumbling pitch.
Lancashire awarded him a benefit in 1923,but although he was still a most effective stock bowler Cook that season appeared to have lost much of his spin and was dropped for a number of matches late in the season. He still took almost 100 wickets even if at quite a high cost,but with Ted McDonald qualified it was not seen as worthwhile to retain him for 1924.
With his cricket career winding down,he spent most of the 1924 cricket season as the professional with Lancashire League team Rawtenstall. [3]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Position(s) | Outside right,centre forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1904–1905 | Blackpool | 7 | (0) |
1905 | Nelson | ||
1905–1906 | Preston North End | 0 | (0) |
1906 | Nelson | ||
1906–1907 | Lancaster | ||
1907–1908 | Southport Central | ||
1908 | Gainsborough Trinity | 9 | (3) |
1908–1910 | Rossendale United | 63 | (62) |
1910–1911 | Bacup | ||
1911–1912 | Chester | ||
1912–1913 | Stockport County | 10 | (4) |
1913–1914 | Chester | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Lol also had a lengthy career as a footballer,having three separate spells playing for clubs in the Football League. [4] [5] In the 1904–05 season he had a short run as an outside right in the Blackpool first team. He next joined Lancashire Combination team Nelson,before a short spell at Preston North End. He made no first team appearances at Preston,and soon returned to Nelson. This was followed by spells at Lancaster and Southport Central. Now playing as a centre forward,in the 1908–09 season he had another short first team run playing for Gainsborough Trinity. He next played for Bacup,and this was followed by a season at Chester,when he was an extremely prolific goalscorer averaging over a goal per game. [6] He attracted the interest of Stockport County,and in 1912–13 experienced his third run of first team football at Football League level. His best performance was to score a hat trick in a 3–1 win over Huddersfield Town on 5 October 1912. Once again his time playing at Football League level was relatively brief,and in the 1913–14 season he was back playing in the Lancashire Combination with Chester.
Born Lawrence Whalley,he was listed under this name in both the 1891 United Kingdom Census and the 1901 United Kingdom Census returns. [7] However throughout his professional career as a cricketer and a footballer he was always referred to as having the surname Cook.
His father was the Preston Cricket Club groundsman for over 20 years,and Lol was one of four brothers to play cricket professionally. His elder brother Billy Cook was also a successful cricketer and footballer,and he also played some games for Lancashire County Cricket Club [8]
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler,he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37.
Arthur Webb Mold was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire as a fast bowler between 1889 and 1901. A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1892,he was selected for England in three Test matches in 1893. Mold was one of the most effective bowlers in England during the 1890s but his career was overshadowed by controversy over his bowling action. Although he took 1,673 wickets in first-class matches,many commentators viewed his achievements as tainted.
John Brian Statham,was an English professional cricketer from Gorton,in Manchester,who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965. As an England player,he took part in nine overseas tours from 1950–51 to 1962–63. He was a right arm fast bowler and was noted for the consistent accuracy of his length and direction.
William Eric Bowes was an English professional cricketer active from 1929 to 1947 who played in 372 first-class matches as a right arm fast bowler and a right-handed tail end batsman. He took 1,639 wickets with a best performance of nine for 121 and completed ten wickets in a match 27 times. He scored 1,531 runs with a highest score of 43* and is one of very few major players whose career total of wickets taken exceeded his career total of runs scored. He did not rate himself as a fielder but he nevertheless held 138 catches.
Schofield Haigh was a Yorkshire and England cricketer. He played for eighteen seasons for Yorkshire County Cricket Club,for England from the 1898/99 tour to 1912,and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1901.
Frederick Martin,also known as Fred Martin and Nutty Martin,was an English professional cricketer who bowled left-arm medium-pace spin. Martin played first-class cricket between 1885 and 1892,primarily for Kent County Cricket Club,and appeared twice in Test matches for the England cricket team. He was considered one of the best left-arm spin bowlers in the country between 1889 and 1891.
George Geary was a first-class cricketer who played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. Primarily a bowler,he took 46 wickets in 14 Tests.
Harry Dean was an English cricketer who played for Lancashire and England.
Roy Tattersall was an English cricketer who played for Lancashire and played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler. He was born at Tonge Moor,Bolton,Lancashire,England.
Edgar Arthur"Ted" McDonald was a cricketer who played for Tasmania,Victoria,Lancashire and Australia,as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club,Essendon Football Club,and Fitzroy Football Club before totally concentrating on cricket. Despite a short international career,he was considered by many cricketers as well as commentators to be one of the best fast bowlers of his generation.
Walter Brearley was an English first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire and England.
Walter Scott Lees was a Surrey and England cricketer who played in five Test matches against South Africa in 1906. On his debut,he took five wickets in the first innings in Johannesburg.
George Gibson Macaulay was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to 1933,achieving the rare feat of taking a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1924,he took 1,838 first-class wickets at an average of 17.64 including four hat-tricks.
Thomas Bignall Mitchell was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1928 and 1939.
Richard Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton,Lancashire,who played in four Test matches between 1946 and 1948. A fast-medium right-arm bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman who made useful runs on occasion,he played for Lancashire between 1933 and 1950,taking 1,122 wickets in 298 first-class matches;he is 10th highest wicket-taker for Lancashire.
Emmanuel Alfred Martindale was a West Indian cricketer who played in ten Test matches from 1933 to 1939. He was a right-arm fast bowler with a long run up;although not tall for a bowler of his type he bowled at a fast pace. With Learie Constantine,Martindale was one of the earliest in the long succession of Test-playing West Indian fast bowlers. During the time he played,the West Indies bowling attack depended largely on his success. Critics believe that his record and performances stand comparison with bowlers of greater reputation and longer careers.
Peter Granville Lee,affectionately known as "Leapy",is a former cricketer who played for Northamptonshire and Lancashire County Cricket Clubs. He was a right-arm fast-medium bowler who moved the ball off the seam and became among the most effective bowlers in English county cricket during the 1970s. Presumably because his batting was impotent as shown by his highest first-class score in more than 200 matches being 26,Lee appears never to have been considered seriously for Test cricket. He toured South Africa twice with teams organised by Derrick Robins. He was born at Arthingworth,Northamptonshire.
George Freeman was an English first-class cricketer. He made 32 appearances for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1865 to 1880. He also played four matches of first-class cricket for the "United England Eleven" (1866–1869),three games for the "North of England" (1867–1869),four for the "United North of England Eleven" (1870) plus one for the "Players" (1871).
Simon Christopher Kerrigan is a retired English cricketer who last played for Northamptonshire. He bowled slow left arm orthodox spin. Kerrigan signed for Lancashire in September 2008,and made his debut for the first team in 2010,filling in for Gary Keedy,Lancashire's senior spinner. In August 2011,Kerrigan was selected for the England Lions for the first time. The following month he took the best first-class bowling figures for Lancashire since 1953 and that year Lancashire won the County Championship for the first time since 1950.
William Cook,born William Whalley,known as Billy Cook,was an English footballer and cricketer.