By Kaif - Aug 16, 2025 12:23 PM
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Former Australia captain Bob Simpson dies at the age of 89: Australia's great captain and batsman Bob Simpson died in Sydney on Saturday. He breathed his last at the age of 89. Apart from being a great Australian player, he was also the team's first full-time coach.
Simpson was one of the most influential figures in Australian cricket. He played 62 Test matches for his country from 1957 to 1978 and also took 71 wickets. He was considered one of the best slip fielders. At the age of 16, he made his first class debut for New South Wales and in his entire career, he scored a total of 21,029 runs and also took 349 wickets.
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Debuting in Test cricket against South Africa in 1957, Simpson scored 4869 runs in the format at an average of 46.81, including 10 centuries and 27 half-centuries. Debuting as an all-rounder, Simpson emerged as a reliable opener for Australia in the 1960s. In a single year in 1964, he scored 1381 runs, a record at the time. This included his highest Test score of 311 against England at Manchester.
In the next two years, he scored several centuries and these included double centuries. Simpson was also a useful leg-spinner. He took 71 wickets in Tests and was also a highly reliable slip fielder. His best bowling performance, eight wickets for 97 runs, came in his last Test match against India.
Simpson retired from cricket after the home series against India in 1968. However, in 1977, at the age of 41, he returned from retirement to take charge of the team again. By then many players had left the team to play in the World Cricket Series. He captained the home series against India and the West Indies tour. After this, he again retired from cricket.
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In 1986, when the Australian team was going through a difficult phase, the board called Simpson to groom young players. He started this work along with captain Allan Border and groomed players like Dean Jones and Steve Waugh. In 1987, he was also included in the selection panel. From here, he gave a platform to many young players and groomed them, including names like Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martin, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting.
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