John Cockett

John Ashley Cockett (23 December 1927 – 16 February 2020) was an English sportsman who was an Olympic bronze medal winning field hockey player for England and Great Britain. He also played first-class and minor counties cricket.[3]

John Cockett

Personal information
Full name	John Ashley Cockett
Born	(1927-12-23)23 December 1927 Broadstairs, Kent, England
Died	16 February 2020(2020-02-16) (aged 92)[1][2]
Batting	Right-handed batsman
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1951-1953	Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 8 Runs scored 311 Batting average 23.92 100s/50s 1/2 Top score 121 Balls bowled 6 Wickets 0 Bowling average - 5 wickets in innings - 10 wickets in match - Best bowling - Catches/stumpings 3/0
Source: CricketArchive

Cockett was born in Broadstairs. He attended Cambridge University and won his Blues at both cricket and hockey. As a cricketer he was a middle-order batsman while his hockey was played as a half-back.[4] He made seven first-class appearances for Cambridge University in 1951 and made a century against Sussex in Worthing to help set up a 137 run win.[5][6] From 1949 to 1962, Cockett regularly played in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship for Buckinghamshire.[7] On leaving Cambridge Cockett became a master at Felsted School, where he taught mathematics and coached cricket and hockey.[8]

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Cockett was a member of the Great Britain hockey team, which won the bronze medal by defeating Pakistan 2-1. He played his club hockey with Chelmsford Hockey Club.[9] He narrowly missed out on another medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics when his side finished fourth after losing 3-1 to Germany.[10]

Cockett's only other first-class match was in 1953, when he played with the Minor Counties cricket team against the touring Australians which included Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Bill Johnston and Richie Benaud. Cockett scored no runs in either innings.[11]

Olympic medal record
	1952 Helsinki	Field hockey

References

1. John Cockett's obituary
2. Cricket Archive: John Cockett
3. "Olympians Who Played First-Class Cricket". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
4. "John Cockett". Cricinfo.
5. "First-Class Matches played by John Cockett". CricketArchive.
6. "Sussex v Cambridge University 1951". CricketArchive.
7. "Worcestershire v Surrey 1904". CricketArchive.
8. Alumni Felstedienses 12th edition 2000
9. "OUR HOCKEY CORRESPONDENT. "Hockey." Times [London, England] 27 May 1952". The Times Digital Archive.
10. "John Cockett". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011.
11. "Minor Counties v Australians 1953". CricketArchive.