John Cockett

John Cockett was educated at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire before going to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. At university he was a hockey Blue in 1949 and 1950 and then won a cricket Blue in 1951. He played First Class cricket for the university alongside such famous England Test batsmen as the future England captain Peter May, the future Bishop of Liverpool David Sheppard, and Raman Subba Row. Cockett also played Minor Counties cricket for Buckinghamshire for more than 10 years,.

As a hockey player, Cockett played for Chelmsford and made 37 England and 18 Great Britain appearances between 1951-58, including two Olympic Games, in 1952 (bronze medal) and 1956. He won his first representative honours as a 17-year-old while still at Aldenham, when he played for the Southern Public Schools against their Northern counterparts. Cockett was also a fine footballer and played for the Old Aldenhamians, helping them reach the semi-final of the coveted Public Schools Arthur Dunn Cup in 1952.

Cockett became a mathematics teacher at Felsted School in 1951 and was a housemaster for over 20 years. He was also master in charge of cricket, and hockey for nearly 30 years, before retiring from teaching in 1989.