Cocks was known as a very keen but not especially skilled cricketer. He would even extend special whip’s dispensations to Labour MPs absent from votes if they were playing for the Lords and Commons team. He was once sought urgently by Jim Callaghan on another whip’s phone:
“Where’s the chief whip?”
“At the cricket ground.”
“What’s he doing?”
“He’s just gone into bat.”
“I’ll wait.”