Full Name

Simon James Cook

Born

January 15, 1977, Oxford

Age

47y 64d

Nicknames

Chef

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast medium

Playing Role

Bowler

Height

6ft 4in

Education

Matthew Arnold School

Other

Coach

Standing at 6ft 4ins, Simon Cook is a lively fast-medium bowler. He jumped from taking the new ball for Cumnor - a league side in Oxfordshire - in 1996 to taking the new ball with Angus Fraser for Middlesex against Ireland in the Benson & Hedges Cup a year later. The considerable promotion was accidental: he admits Middlesex scouts "weren't watching me, they were looking at Andy Strauss, who they also signed". The pair were playing together in a representative U-19s match against Warwickshire

At Middlesex, shin splints and a stress fracture delayed Cook's progress from an effective one-day bowler to Championship bowler. In 2000 injury and form restricted him to only seven first-class appearances. When Fraser, his mentor, left the club two years later for a career in journalism, he filled the containing role and recorded his best, 8 for 63, at Northampton on a good batting track and finished just short of 50 first-class wickets. In 2004 he equalled Adam Hollioake's National League record of 39 wickets in a season, and was also Middlesex's leading first-class wicket-taker. However, in Cook's eight years there, they won no titles, and at the end of 2004, he signed a two-year contract with Kent.
Debashish Biswas (September 2006)

Simon Cook Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC141-21031109933428/63-32.143.1361.4-120
List A190-825765372346/376/3727.934.7535.2520
T20s737315311919853/133/1322.577.5218.0000

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
FC14118631257793*16.62--07--340
List A19010935125367*16.93--02--290
T20s73261716825*18.66143117.480084150

Photos of Simon Cook

Hong Kong's squad are all smiles after a thumping win over Netherlands
Laurie Evans gets into a tangle as he is bowled by Simon Cook
Simon Cook makes an unsuccessful appeal against Murray Goodwin
Simon Cook
Simon Cook
Simon Cook ; Thumbnail Portrait