Phillip Anthony Cottey (born 2 June 1966) is a Welsh former
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 str ...
er who played for
Glamorgan,
Sussex and
Eastern Transvaal
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique ...
in a
first-class career lasting 18 years. He was a right-hand batsman and right-arm
off-spin
Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which s ...
bowler.
Early life
Cottey was born in
Swansea,
Glamorgan, Wales.
Football career
Cottey played professional football for
Swansea City in the 1984–85 season. Having come through the youth set-up he signed a professional contract in June 1984. He made three
Football League appearances during the season before he was released in May 1985 by manager
John Bond. Cottey also played for Wales Youth as captain.
[Tony Cottey Profile](_blank)
, PCA, retrieved 7 January 2009 He also played soccer for Llanelli AFC.
Cricket career
Glamorgan
Having played Second XI cricket in 1985, Cottey made his first-class debut for Glamorgan against
Oxford University
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 th ...
in 1986,
opening the batting with
Duncan Pauline he scored 6. He played three further first-class matches in his maiden season, finishing with 24 runs
at an average of 6.
[First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season](_blank)
CricketArchive, retrieved 7 January 2009
Cottey was used more regularly over the next two seasons, in 1988 playing 13 matches and scoring 603 runs, including five fifties.
His maiden first-class fifty came against
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
in the early part of the 1988 season. He scored 68 in the first innings and followed it with 92 in the second before he was dismissed, 8 short of a maiden
century, by
Mike Atherton.
He played just four matches the following season but had a breakthrough year in 1990 as he passed 1,000 runs for the first time in his career, included in this aggregate were three centuries.
The first came in early June against Oxford University, opening the batting he scored 156. The other two centuries came in back-to-back innings against
Leicestershire and
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
.
Cottey had a poor season in 1991, in 20 innings he passed fifty just once and finished the year with an average of 23.
However, after a winter season with Eastern Transvaal (see below) he returned to Wales in better form. He scored 1,076 runs at an average of 46.78,
with two centuries against
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
and
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 ...
. He was awarded his county
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
at the end of the season.
[Player Profile](_blank)
CricketArchive, retrieved 7 January 2009
Cottey passed the landmark of 1,000 runs in a season in each of the next four years, culminating with his best seasonal total of 1,543 runs in 1996. The figure contained four centuries, including his first and only double century.
Playing against
Leicestershire at
Swansea he scored 203 off 333 balls and aided a Glamorgan recovery from 127/6 with a 211 run seventh wicket
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
with
Ottis Gibson
Ottis Delroy Gibson (born 16 March 1969) is a Barbadian cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. From 2010 to 2014, Gibson was the head coach for the West Indies. He has been appointed as Bangladesh bowling ...
. The match also witnessed Cottey's best career bowling performance as he took 4/49 in the first innings.
Cottey was a regular member of the Glamorgan team that won 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 1997, although his personal form was modest, scoring 475 runs at 27.94.
He passed 1,000 runs in 1998, however, he left the club at the end of the season because contract negotiations broke down.
[The modest journeyman](_blank)
Cricinfo, retrieved 7 January 2009
Cottey played 197 matches for Glamorgan, scoring 10,346 runs at 38.17, with 21 centuries.
[First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team](_blank)
CricketArchive, retrieved 7 January 2009
Sussex
Cottey signed a five-year contract with Sussex, and made his debut for the club in the opening fixture of the 1999 season against
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, he finished his maiden season with 780 runs and was awarded a county cap.
After a similarly productive season in 2000,
Cottey made just two appearances in 2001 as he was sidelined with tennis elbow.
In 2003 Cottey passed 1,000 runs for the eighth and final occasion in his career, he scored 1,149 at 45.96. In mid-season he enjoyed a sequence of seven consecutive fifties and only narrowly failed to score four successive hundreds. It was a successful season for Sussex as they won their first County Championship title since 1855. Cottey completed the rare feat of winning titles with two clubs.
Cottey was released by Sussex at the end of the 2004 season, his first team appearances had been limited by the arrival of
Ian Ward. In six seasons with Sussex he made 74 appearances scoring 3,948 runs at 33.74, with 10 centuries.
Eastern Transvaal
Cottey played one season of South African domestic cricket in 1991–92. He played five matches, scoring 253 runs at 36.14, as Eastern Transvaal won the
UCB Bowl.
Post-cricket
Cottey was an after dinner speaker.
In 2008, he published an autobiography entitled ''There's Only 2 Tony Cotteys'', named after crowd chants he received during an innings which took Glamorgan to the
Sunday League title in 1993.
The reference is to the footballer of a similar name
Tony Cottee
Antony Richard Cottee (born 11 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator.
As a player, he was a striker from 1982 until 2001, notably playing in the top flight of En ...
. Co-written by David Brayley, the book is published by Gomer Press and has been nominated for the Cricket Society Cricket Book of the Year 2009.
Cottey returned to Sussex in 2009 when he was appointed business relationship manager, he left this role in 2021.
Sussex bids farewell to Tony Cottey
Sussex CCC website, retrieved 19 June 2021
References
External links
Mixed emotions for Cottey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottey, Tony
Welsh cricketers
Glamorgan cricketers
Sussex cricketers
Easterns cricketers
Welsh men's footballers
Swansea City A.F.C. players
Cricketers from Swansea
Footballers from Swansea
1966 births
Living people
Men's association football midfielders
English Football League players
Test and County Cricket Board XI cricketers