Sam Cook: Local Talent to International Superstar?

“I’m incredibly lucky… I want to become a cricketing great.”

In November 2022 I interviewed professional cricketer Sam Cook.

Essex County Cricket Club fast bowler Sam Cook on his rise through cricket, his ambitions for international success and the highs and lows of being a professional sportsman. A local lad from Chelmsford, Sam’s rapid rise through the cricketing ranks has many fans talking about the prospect of the Essex seamer becoming England’s next strike bowler. But the pathway to claiming legendary status isn’t going to be easy, as physical and mental preparation, and performance pressures must be conquered; on a consistent basis.

(Sam Cook with his trademark celebration after taking a wicket)

Sam Cook, born and raised in Chelmsford, Essex, was a student at Loughborough University where he studied history and international relations whilst playing for their cricket team. Cook’s initial breakthrough came at Loughborough in 2017, in the MCCU (Marylebone Cricket Club University) competition, which was a series of matches played between the countries best young cricketers who were attending university. Later that year, after debuting against the West Indies, Sam helped his boyhood county Essex, claim their first County Championship trophy in 25 years. When asked about recollecting his first experience on the cricket field, Cook explained his love blossomed from the intricacies of the sport: “I just remember loving the game right from the off. As a young kid you had the opportunity to bat, bowl and field most in every game. I think this was key as a lot of people see cricket as boring, but I quickly fell in love with all the different areas and complexities of the game from an early age.”

Following on from his county debut in 2017, Cook quickly became a fan favourite and in the following summer, his brilliant control, variety of pace and ability to nip the ball both ways saw himself cement a firm position as an Essex front line opening bowler. When speaking to me about the reality of being a professional athlete, I questioned Sam on breaking into the professional scene, facing moments of struggle and how he deals with self-doubt. “The way I’ve always approached the journey of ‘becoming a professional’ was always to look at that next step on the ladder. For example, when I was on the academy, I looked how I could break into the second team, then from second team to first team and so on.” This outlook on goals from Cook can be relevant to personal life, as it’s a good way of breaking down the journey to the goal into small achievements and milestones. An outlook and mindset of which I’m sure will help him reach the destination of international success.

He further added, “I think this prevented me from ever giving myself a chance to doubt myself, as I’ve always been focussed on looking ahead and trying to get better and get to that next level...whatever it may be.”

Professional athletes and sportspeople are victims of an extraordinary type of pressure from their fans, teammates, coaches, club affiliates but also from themselves. Their performances are analysed, scrutinised and debated by a plethora of sporting critics, they’re contractually obliged to perform to a certain level and ability, and they have personal goals they wish to achieve. Sam Cook believes that the biggest challenge he faced was the initial breakthrough and signing his first professional contract. “I think it would be that time initially trying to break into the first team and win that first professional contract. At that time, you’re not sure if you’re going to make it and become a professional so there’s a lot of internal pressures and fear of the unknown. I think I dealt with it by always seeing the opportunity in what I was doing, keep improving, try and get better every day, then when the chance comes, you’re ready to take it.”

(Cook demonstrating the eagle celebration as he plays for the Essex Eagles)

Cook has the unique responsibility to represent and play for the county he was born and raised in, but more specifically in Chelmsford- where Essex Cricket play their home matches. This makes the relationship between himself and cricket extra special as he was born just five minutes from the ground and stated how fortunate it is to play for the club. “I’m incredibly lucky to represent the club and play so close to home. You just look at the greats of the game who have played for the club, I want to follow in their footsteps.” It became quite clear and apparent to me that Sam’s ambitions in the sport go beyond personal success; it could be said that he has aspirations to turn the national plaudits he’s been receiving over the past few years into victories on the international stage. Which, if he continues on the trajectory he’s currently on, is a destination he would deserve.

At the age of just twenty-five, Cook has already experienced his fair share of important, nail-biting matches. A few to name would be the 2019 T20 Blast Finals Day which included semi-final and final victories and the 2022 Hundred Final in which he was crowned ‘Hero of the Match’ after taking four wickets for just eighteen runs and helping his team to lift the trophy. Although these games would be a caldron for pressure for anyone, Sam’s method with dealing with big games is a personal attribute which comes as second nature to him- “I’ve definitely always been someone who has seen the opportunity in situations of pressure, and I have always tended to raise my performance in big games. Whether that’s a natural trait or something I have learnt over the years I don’t actually know.” He further on proclaimed that having the responsibility and opportunity to take wickets, to win his team games, at a young age helped to settle any nerves. “I do think experiencing high pressure situations early in my career helped, that feeling of being pushed in at the deep end... you really don’t have much choice, its sink or swim. I am lucky to be that way from a mental point of view but it’s something I am proud of, thriving under pressure.”

(Sam Cook celebrating with his Trent Rockets team as they lift the 2022 Hundred trophy)

Those examples are in the white-ball format, which is fair to say wasn’t seen as Cook’s bread and butter when he burst onto the scene. Naturally seen as an opening red-ball bowler in the longer format of cricket, Cook’s skills adapted and flourished into the shorter format of one-day cricket, which excited the Essex fanbase. Amazingly, as his skillset with the red-ball increased, so did his skillset with the white ball. Sam saw domestic success in 2022; not with his county Essex, but with the Trent Rockets, of whom he has belonged to since they formed in the inaugural Hundred season of 2021. Cook’s performance in the final where his twenty allocated deliveries conceded just eighteen runs and more outstandingly took four wickets, aided the Rockets to defeat Manchester Originals to claim the trophy at Lords in front of 30,000 people and over a million watching it online or via the television.

When asked whether he thought his abilities with the white-ball were nearing the skills he has with the red, Cook vocalised his ambitions to be successful in the shorter formats, aswell as the longer formats of which he is more ‘well-known’ for. “I think it’s difficult to compare the two skillsets closely, if you look at my records in both formats, you’d of course say my red ball is stronger on paper. However, I think I’ve made huge strides in my white ball game over the past couple of seasons and I have serious ambitions in this area of cricket. The Hundred final definitely was a confidence boost for my white ball skills, delivering some of my best Yorkers under that pressure will go a long way in the future.”

Sam’s abilities to manipulate both balls and demonstrate several high-quality performances in the English game ultimately brought the attention of the England national team coaches to him. Over the past few seasons, Sam has been involved in the England Lions program, which is essentially England and Wales’ second team. But most importantly, the Lions have the primary aim of giving promising young cricketers experience of playing international cricket. I asked Cook how the England Lions program has helped in his progression as a cricketer, whether it be improvements to physical condition, pre-match preparation or enhancing the skillset he already possesses.; to which he responded with “It’s definitely opened my eyes to a lot of the physical prep that is required to endure the rigours of test match cricket.” I followed up with asking Sam whether the England coaches or the set up in general had any benefits or improvements to his physical condition compared to the county set up he’d been used to. Cook replied – “The intensity at which the game is played at that level, your body has got to be seriously prepared to perform and maintain. Particularly on the nutrition side as a bowler, the resources available on the programme have completely changed the way I fuel now before games and I’ve definitely seen the benefits from that.”

(International career looming? Sam playing for the England Lions)

It's fair to say that Sam Cook has had a relatively magnificent start to his cricketing career: winning two County Championship Division One trophies, a domestic T20 and the most recent Hundred trophy. In addition to the trophy success, Cook is soon to be on the plane to Dubai for England Lions duty and preparation for a T10 tournament representing the Chennai Braves. With all these positives, come sacrifice and setbacks. So, it was interesting to hear Sam’s perspective on struggle, desired improvements, or encounters of failure that he may have faced on the come up to professional cricket. Although confident in his ability there was a moment of self-doubt during his first T20 at the iconic Oval, home of Surrey Cricket, where Cook was “smacked everywhere”. He told “I think of an obvious time of where I learned from failure. My first T20 against Surrey at the Oval where I got smacked everywhere. At the time I thought how I am going to compete with these world class players week in week out. In hindsight I’ve come to realise that even the very best bowlers in the world get taken down in the white ball game, sometimes it’s not your night. It’s definitely made me stronger going forward and maturing is realising those odd bad games don’t define your career.”

Leading on from this, Cook openly exclaimed how his current focus is adapting his game, both batting and bowling, to conditions abroad. A vital motive for professionals should they look to make a career on the international stage, playing in multiple different continents. His response when asked on what he’s currently improving on was “I think your always trying to improve every facet of your game as a professional. For me a big focus at the minute is batting and bowling over-seas. This winter I’m going to have to opportunity to test and train both those areas so I can’t wait to see where they end up.”

Upon finalising the interview with Sam, I ended with an indirect question to cricket aligning with the subject of downtime and hobbies. Like anyone else who has a ‘normal’ career or job, it’s important to switch off from work and enjoy the activities in which we have a passion and interest for. Unsurprisingly, Sam’s life isn’t engulfed in cricket incessantly and he was open on how he spends his downtime away from the sport. “I’m very conscious of completely switching off from cricket when I’m not at the ground. It allows you to be fresher when you are then playing or training and give cricket your full attention. If you are all consumed by it 24/7 it’s impossible to sustain, you will inevitably burn out. I love golf, going out for food, socialising...djing. Whatever it is I actively try to switch off from the game in my downtime. Unless it’s a rare Saturday afternoon in the season, on which you’ll always find me watching my club side Chelmsford play which is one of my favourite hobbies.”