Simon James Cook (born 15 January 1977) is an English former professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who was the head coach of the

Hong Kong cricket team The Hong Kong national cricket team is the team that represents independent Hong Kong in international competition. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.

between 2015 and 2019. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

s between 1999 and 2012. Cook batted right handed. Cook was born at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. His brother,

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, has played

Minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

and

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

for

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

Cricket career

Cook initially played in 1996 for

Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumn ...

before a year later being signed by

along with

Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Engla ...

. After suffering from shin splints and stress fractures he gradually established himself as a front-line bowler in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. In 2004 he took 39 wickets in the National League, equalling the record of

Adam Hollioake Adam John Hollioake (born 5 September 1971) is a professional athlete who is the only international cricketer to compete professionally as a Mixed Martial Artist. He has also competed as a professional boxer. However he is most well known as a cr ...

. After seven years at Middlesex, Cook signed a contract with

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at the end of 2004. Seamer Cook makes Kent move
BBC Sport, 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2016-01-29. He became a regular first teamer, mostly taking the new ball. He won the

2007 Twenty20 Cup The 2007 Twenty20 Cup was the fifth edition of the Twenty20 Cup tournament, which ran between 22 June and 4 August 2007, and saw the Kent Spitfires win the tournament for the first time, defeating Gloucestershire Gladiators in the final by 4 wi ...

and the 2009 County Championship Division Two title with the county. He retired from county cricket at the end of the 2012 county season.

Coaching career

He had completed his coaching training to the highest level whilst still a playerHogwood C (2019
Kent appoint Simon Cook as specialist bowling coach
''

Kent Online KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

'', 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-09-16. and took a role coaching

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

before the 2013 European T20 Championship.Veteran bowler Simon Cook to leave Kent
BBC Sport, 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2016-01-29.Cook to coach French national team
''

Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid ''The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 as a success ...

'', 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2016-01-29. He then took a role as head coach of the

Hong Kong Cricket Club The Hong Kong Cricket Club () is situated in the heart of Hong Kong Island surrounded by the hills and greenery of Wong Nai Chung Gap Wong Nai Chung Gap () is a geographic gap in the middle of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The gap is betwee ...

before becoming the bowling coach of the

Hong Kong national cricket team The Hong Kong national cricket team is the team that represents independent Hong Kong in international competition. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.

in 2013.Simon Cook appointed Specialist Bowling Coach for ICC World Cup Qualifier
ESPN Cricinfo, 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2016-01-29. In 2015 he was appointed the interim head coach of the Hong Kong national side.
ESPN Cricinfo, 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2016-01-29. He went on to be appointed to the role in 2016.Careem N (2019
Hong Kong cricket ‘can go no further’ without facilities, says outgoing coach Simon Cook as senior side aim for ODI boost
''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'', 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2019-09-16. His time as head coach saw the side record their first

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

and first-class victories in 2015, take part in the

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...

and record a first victory over an ICC Full Member, beating

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 2018. The team won its first international tournament in 10 years under Cook's leadership in 2018, winning the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament. Cook left the Hong Kong post in July 2019, returning to the UK. He was appointed as specialist bowling coach at

in September, taking up the role in October.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Simon 1977 births Living people English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Kent cricketers Coaches of the Hong Kong national cricket team British expatriates in Hong Kong Cricketers from Oxford