He produced a new edition of Euripides' partly-lost tragedy Hypsipyle based on a meticulous re-examination of the surviving papyrus fragments and was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1987.

[2] Cockle was a research fellow in Greek and Latin papyrology at University College London where he was particularly known for his work on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

[3] He featured in a film Greek Papyri produced by the college's UCOLFILM unit at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1971.

[4] He completed his PhD in 1974 with a thesis on Euripides' tragedy Hypsipyle under the supervision of Eric Turner and Giuseppe Giangrande.

[5] Cockle was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1987[3] and took part in seven seasons of excavations at the Roman quarry at Mons Claudianus in Egypt between 1987 and 1993.