Bob Simpson passes away at 89

Bob Simpson passes away at 89

Bob Simpson, the former Australian skipper, passed away on Saturday at the age of 89. An influential figure in Australian cricket, Simpson featured in 62 Tests and as the first full-time coach of the team, helped in the re-emergence of the side in the late 1980s and 1990s, during the captaincy tenures of Allan Border and Mark Taylor.

"Bob Simpson was one of the greats of Australian cricket and this is a sad day for anyone fortunate to have watched him play or who benefited from his wisdom," Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird said.

Simpson, who made his Test debut in 1957 against South Africa, scored 4869 runs at an average of 46.81, which included 10 centuries and 27 half-centuries. He developed into a reliable opening batter for Australia through the 1960s. In 1964, he amassed 1381 runs, a record at that point. It included his highest Test score of 311 against England in Manchester. In the next two years, he scored a couple of more double centuries, among many of his other big centuries.

Simpson was also a handy legspinner, who scalped 71 wickets, apart from being an extremely reliable slip fielder. His best bowling effort, an eight-wicket haul, came against India in his last Test before his first retirement as a player. That match included one of his two fifers in Tests.

Simpson, who had stepped away from the game following the home series against India in 1968, returned from retirement to lead the side again in 1977, at the age of 41, when several players had left to play in the World Series Cricket.

He led in the home series against India and the tour to West Indies before stepping away from the game again.