Burt Cockley - a story of sustained suspense

In this new Cricbuzz series - The IPL Benchwarmers - we talk to players who made it to the IPL alright, but didn't go very far, and were out of opportunities - and reckoning - sooner than they'd have liked.

Chances are you might not have heard of Burt Cockley, the man who had his life made by an experience in a franchise Twenty20 match - though not in the way he might have imagined. His is a story of humble beginnings, euphoria, agony, love, healing and finally finding contentment. From being a construction labourer and a carpenter to writing a thesis on fast bowling. From getting an IPL deal with Kings XI Punjab, and having his life changed by a relationship that developed during a T20 match in India, to being on the cusp of an international debut at 23, before playing his last competitive game just four years later. It's a story of sustained suspense.

Cockley had only played seven first-class matches before he was drafted in by Kings XI for the 2009 season in South Africa. "It was a bit surprising actually as I hadn't entered the auction," Cockley recalls to Cricbuzz. "I remember Brett Lee's manager Neil Maxwell rang me up and said, 'Kings XI wants you to go to the IPL. Are you keen?' I said absolutely!"

It didn't take long for Cockley, who was 23 at the time, to get a taste of what the off-field entertainment would be like. "We were checked into this really fancy hotel with many famous restaurants including one from Gordon Ramsey. I distinctly remember the opening night. Snow Patrol was playing their song Chasing Cars, there was Cirque du Soleil and the who's who of world cricket. I asked coach Tom Moody, 'Do you mind if I stick around for the after-party?' I ended up going to the after-party, there were supermodels dancing everywhere, famous people up on the stage smoking cigars. I remember spotting my hero and rugby legend Francois Pienaar on the dance floor and I went up to him and started cuddling him. I wish I could bottle it up and just relive the night every now and again!"

That experience and all the razzmatazz surrounding the IPL was surreal for Cockley. He hails from the sleepy mining town of Newcastle in New South Wales. He never went to university like many of his friends. He started working odd blue-collar jobs as a carpenter, construction labourer and dockworker, as well as being an electrician in a mining company up until his move to Sydney to play Grade Cricket. This life of relative austerity made him battle-hardened and led to his role as an old-school Aussie fast bowler - terrifyingly fast, rough around the edges and as tough as they could come.

Cockley played just one season in Grade Cricket before being picked for New South Wales. A year later, he received the call from Maxwell and Kings XI. He didn't get a game in the tournament, despite trying everything under the sun to be selected. He bowled full throttle at every practice session, hitting the gym every other day. Having come to the IPL straight after the Australian domestic season, his body eventually started breaking down at the end of the tournament. He was diagnosed with a bulging disk after returning home.

But later that year he had two experiences in India that would leave indelible marks on his life. The first one came in the inaugural edition of the Champions League Twenty20.

"It was the final of the 2009 CLT20 and I was just walking the boundary running drinks (for New South Wales)," Cockley says. "I was standing next to the cheerleaders' podium and I saw one of the cheerleaders for a brief moment and then both of us started looking at each other. I hung around that part of the field and tried to look busy. We won the game and went back to the hotel for the big after-party and then everyone involved in the tournament celebrated along with the cheerleaders. That girl was there too and I walked over and said, 'Hi, would you like a dance?' She's like, 'No! But we can go sit down and talk!' We did that and at the end of the night when everyone was leaving the bar we exchanged contacts and the rest is history as they say!"

Cockley's zenith as a cricketer came soon after meeting Rachel, in late 2009 when he was called up to an injury-ridden Australian ODI side in India. His selection spoke volumes about the raw potential the world champion Australian team saw in him, given he had played so little cricket for his state. He was set to be named in the starting XI in the final match of the ODI series in Mumbai, but Cyclone Phyan decided to gatecrash his party and rob him of what could have been his most prized possession: an Australian cap.

Cockley has made peace with that. He finds solace in the fact that Australia won the series in the penultimate game and he managed to experience what every kid aspiring to play cricket for Australia yearns for: to sing the sacrosanct team song, Under the Southern Cross I Stand.

"I got to be there for that, where Mike Hussey does the tradition and walks around and welcomes you to the team and throws beer at you and pours it over your head, goes around a lot of people who had a really good series, and then we get to sing Under the Southern Cross I Stand."

Sadly, what followed next was a chain reaction of injuries including a stress fracture, side tears and a ruptured ACL, and he would play just seven more first-class games in his career. He moved to Western Australia in a last-ditch attempt to save his career in 2013 after NSW let him go. He got a game for a select WA side against the visiting England side in 2014, only to bow out of the game after three overs due to a knee injury. This time it was for good. At 27, Burt Cockley's cricket career was as dead as a doornail.

The cycle of injuries had a tormenting effect not only Cockley's body, but also on his mind. In those times of darkness, there was one guiding light he could fall back on: his wife, Rachel.

The pair now live in Kansas, USA, with their son, August. Cockley works as the strength and conditioning coach for the USA cricket team and is about to graduate with a master's degree in health, sport and exercise science. He is writing a thesis on fast bowling and how GPS devices can monitor fatigue in fast bowlers.

Also read:Dominic Thornely's banter with Ambani, and being Shaun Pollock's doppelganger