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{{short description|English cricketer and soldier}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = John Cocks
| image =
| country = England
| full_name = John James Crofts Cocks
| birth_date = 18 February 1895
| birth_place = [[Colchester]], [[Essex]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1927|5|26|1895|2|18|df=yes}}
| death_place = at sea, off the coast of Turkey
| nickname =
| family =
| batting = Unknown
| bowling =
| role = [[Wicket-keeper]]
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = {{nowrap|1925/26–1926/27}}
| club2 = [[Indian Army cricket team|Army]]
| year2 = 1926/27
| club3 = [[Southern Punjab cricket team (India)|Southern Punjab]]
| year3 = 1926/27
| club4 = [[Northern India cricket team|Northern India]]
| year4 = 1926/27
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 8
| runs1 = 97
| bat avg1 = 12.12
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 33
| hidedeliveries = true
| catches/stumpings1 = 6/2
| date = 9 November
| year = 2023
| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/john-cocks-27732 ESPNcricinfo
}}
'''John James Crofts Cocks''' (18 February 1895 – 27 May 1927) was an English first-class [[cricket]]er and an officer in the [[British Army]], and later the [[Royal Air Force]].

Cocks was born at [[Colchester]] in February 1895 and was educated at [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College|Haileybury]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Haileybury Register, 1862-1910|first=Lionel Sumner|last=Milford|date=1910|publisher=R. Clay|page=667|language=en}}</ref> Cocks was commissioned into the [[Welch Regiment]] as a [[Second lieutenant#United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries|second lieutenant]] on probation in March 1914,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28814|date=20 March 1914|page=2449}}</ref> with him being confirmed in the rank following his graduation from the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Royal Military College]] in July 1915.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29228|date=13 July 1914|page=6841}}</ref> He served in the [[First World War]] with the Welch Regiment, being promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] in July 1916.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29723|date=25 August 1916|page=8400}}</ref>

After the war, Cocks was granted a short service commission in the [[Royal Air Force]] as a [[flying officer]] in March 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32810|date=30 March 1923|page=2420}}</ref> Whilst serving in [[British India]], he made his debut in [[first-class cricket]] for the [[Europeans cricket team]] against the [[Sikhs cricket team|Sikhs]] at [[Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore#Cricket ground|Lahore]] in the 1925–26 [[Lahore Tournament]], before making two further appearances for the Europeans against the [[Parsees cricket team|Parsees]] and the [[Hindus cricket team|Hindus]] in the 1926–27 [[Bombay Quadrangular|Bombay Quadrangular Tournament]]. He made a series of first-class appearances in November 1926 against the touring [[Marylebone Cricket Club]], making an appearance each for the Europeans, the [[Indian Army cricket team|Indian Army]], the [[Rawalpindi Sports Club]], [[Southern Punjab cricket team (India)|Southern Punjab]], and [[Northern India cricket team|Northern India]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13182/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by John Cocks|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=9 November 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In eight first-class matches, he scored 97 runs at an [[batting average (cricket)|average]] of 12.12, with a highest score of 33; as a [[wicket-keeper]], he took six catches and made two [[stumping]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/john-cocks-27732|title=Player profile: John Cocks|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=9 November 2023}}</ref>

Cocks was the owner of an [[Airco DH.9]], which he had assembled from two different DH.9's. Whilst returning to England from India using his plane, Cocks and his passenger, L. A. C. Rowston, were killed when the plane crashed off the coast of Turkey, fifteen days into their journey home which had begun on 11 May 1927.<ref>{{cite news|title=Missing Airmen: Search by Turkish Soldiers|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|location=[[Dublin]]|date=7 June 1927|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Missing Airmen: Turkish Embassy's Report|newspaper=The Irish Times|location=Dublin|page=7}}</ref> A search was conducted by the Turkish authorities, but neither the plane nor their bodies were recovered.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Missing British Airmen: Search Unsuccessful|newspaper=The Irish Times|location=Dublin|date=14 June 1927|page=8}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=27732}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cocks, John}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Colchester]]
[[Category:People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College]]
[[Category:Welch Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Indian Army cricketers]]
[[Category:Rawalpindi Sports Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Southern Punjab cricketers]]
[[Category:Northern India cricketers]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Colchester]]
[[Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Turkey]]

John Cocks (cricketer) - Revision history

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