A slow left-arm spinner who usually opened the bowling, Cooke began playing for Otago soon after he arrived in Dunedin, appearing in the annual match against Canterbury in January 1880 at the age of 17.
In Cooke's first match for Nelson, against Wellington in 1885-86, he bowled unchanged through both innings, taking six wickets as Nelson dismissed Wellington for 36 and 19 and won by an innings [REF].