Domestically, he played for Transvaal from 1912 to 1928. Cooper was born in Johannesburg in September 1893, in what was then the independent South African Republic.
[2] The junior Alfred Cooper made his first-class debut in December 1912, for Transvaal against Orange Free State during the 1912–13 season of the Currie Cup.
[4] The following season, in November 1913, Cooper appeared for Transvaal in a match against a team led by former national captain Percy Sherwell.
[6][7] Although Cooper, aged only 20 at the time of his debut, did not feature in the remainder of the Test series, he did play twice against the Englishmen for Transvaal.
Cooper played regularly for Transvaal during the 1920s, and had a particularly strong 1921–22 season, scoring 352 runs from six matches, including a century.