Dominic Cork

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Dominic Cork : biography

7 August 1971 –

Later in 1996, Cork had a less successful period in Test cricket, taking 10 wickets during India’s three match Test tour at an average of 36.90. Later followed a quiet Test series against Pakistan, in which he had 12 wickets at a little over 36 a piece. His form with the bat was little better in either series, with his all-round ability seemingly having deserted him. Despite this, he was made a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1996. Prior to the tour of New Zealand, Cork suffered personal issues off the pitch with the breakdown of his marriage to his first wife Jane. His personal issues impacted his performances on the field, this was illustrated by his bowling performances. At the end of the Test series he had taken just 7 wickets at an average of 42.85. His batting did fare better, scoring 59 in the first Test and he led England to a series winning victory in the 3rd Test, putting on 76 runs with John Crawley to remind people of the batting side of his game. He fared even worse in the ODI series though, taking just a single wicket throughout at the cost of 145 runs. He would not play another ODI until 2001. Cork described how he was not in the right frame of mind to play international cricket at the time and how his performances were effected by this, further commenting he had no idea when running in to bowl what delivery he would send down to the batsman. There was, however, a feeling in some quarters that Cork was "more style than substance", and during the tour he was the target of a comment from Geoffrey Boycott who alleged that Cork was a "show pony" with "an attitude problem". Cork was prevented from answering Boycott back when injury prevented him from playing during most of the 1997 English season.

Over a year after his previous Test appearance for England, he featured in the Test series during South Africa’s 1998 tour of England. Cork’s return was fairly successful; he took 18 wickets at an average of 31.83, with best innings figures of 6/119. His best figures came in the 2nd Test at Lord’s, thus placing his name on the Lord’s honour’s board for a second time. He later played in England’s only Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval where he claimed the wickets of Marvan Atapattu and Romesh Kaluwitharana in the Sri Lankan first-innings, in a match the tourists won by 10 wickets. Cork later went on that winter’s Ashes tour. He played in the opening two Tests at The Gabba and The WACA, claiming only 4 wickets in all at an average of 41.25. This was to be the final time Cork would play a Test outside of England.

In 2000, Cork was recalled to the England Test squad for the West Indies tour of England, where he featured in four Test matches. Cork was in fantastic form with the ball during the series, having arguably his best returns in Test cricket. He took 20 wickets at an impressive average of 12.25, in partnership with Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, against a West Indian team which was in decline, but that still had talented players like Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. One of Cork’s defining moments in Test cricket came during the series, when in the 2nd Test England were 149/7, needing to reach 188 to win, Cork entered the fray. Cork scampered singles and struck boundaries when needed, including a pulled six off the bowling of Franklyn Rose and in conjunction with Darren Gough, led England to a two wicket win in the dusk at Lord’s shortly before 7 pm. He was later ruled out of the winter tour of Pakistan due to a back injury.

Cork featured in the Pakistani tour of England in 2001 and after four years he was recalled to play in the ODI series involving Pakistan and Australia. Cork had limited success upon his recall, taking six wickets at an average of 35.83. He later played in the 2nd Test of the 2001 Ashes at Lord’s, scoring 24 runs in England first-innings before being dismissed by Jason Gillespie. In England’s second-innings he scored just 2 runs before being dismissed by Glenn McGrath. He was ineffective with the ball, taking just a single wicket in the match, that of Steve Waugh in the Australians first-innings. Cork later played a single Test against Sri Lanka in 2002 and played his final Tests in two matches against India. Cork’s final ODI appearances for England came in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy against India and Zimbabwe. He had little success and had seemed to lose his ability to outswing the ball, resorting to bowling the bouncer more often and increased sledging toward opponents.