Bob Simpson, former player, captain and coach, and one of Australian cricket’s most influential figures, has died at the age of 89, Cricket Australia confirmed on Saturday.
Simpson represented Australia in 62 Test matches and two one-day internationals between 1957 and 1978, scoring 4,869 Test runs, including 10 centuries and 27 half-centuries, and taking 71 wickets. He captained Australia in 39 Tests.
Born in Sydney’s Marrickville suburb to Scottish immigrant parents, Simpson made his first-class debut for New South Wales at the age of 16.
He coached the Australian team from 1986 to 1996, during which Australia won the 1987 World Cup, four Ashes series, and the 1995 Frank Worrell Trophy, ending a 17-year losing streak against the West Indies.
Simpson made his Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1957 and scored his first century in an Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1964, eventually recording 311 runs — making him one of only seven Australians to achieve a triple century. He was also renowned as one of Australia’s greatest slip-fielders, taking 110 catches.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Simpson, saying he “set the highest standards for himself and the champions he led” and would be long remembered.
Simpson was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013. Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird described him as a “mainstay of a strong Australian team in the 1960s” and praised his leadership and coaching for laying the foundation of Australia’s golden era in cricket.
On Saturday, the Australian team observed a moment’s silence and wore black armbands before their Twenty20 match against South Africa in Cairns.
