Key points
- He played 62 Test matches between 1957 and 1978
- With an average of 46.81, he claimed 71 wickets
- Simpson made his first-class debut for New South Wales aged 16
ISLAMABAD: Australian cricket has lost a giant after former Test captain and the first full-time coach Bob Simpson died in Sydney at the age of 89.
Simpson is one of the most influential figures in the history of Australian cricket.
An legendary player, captain and coach, Bob Simpson has left a lasting legacy on Australian cricket https://t.co/nwQ3S7OlxK pic.twitter.com/CHBP9HBj2t
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) August 16, 2025
He played 62 Test matches between 1957 and 1978, averaging 46.81, and claimed 71 wickets while being known as one of the greatest slip fielders of his time, according to ESPN Cricinfo. Simpson had made his first-class debut for New South Wales aged 16 and would go on to amass 21,029 runs and pick up 349 wickets with his legspin.
He grew up in Sydney and first toured with Australia in 1957, becoming one of the best all-round cricketers to play for the country.
First century
It took until his 30th Test for Simpson to break his first century — achieving 311 runs at Old Trafford in 1964.
He retired after the 1967 series, but made a comeback a decade later, aged 41, during the World Series Cricket era.
Albanese said Saturday that Simpson’s “extraordinary service to Australian cricket spanned generations”.
Bob Simpson’s extraordinary service to Australian cricket spanned generations. As a player, captain and then era-defining coach, he set the highest of standards for himself and the champions he led. He will be long remembered by the game he loved.
May he rest in peace.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 16, 2025
“As a player, captain and then era-defining coach, he set the highest of standards for himself and the champions he led,” the prime minister wrote on social media.
“He will be long remembered by the game he loved.”
Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said Simpson was a “mainstay of a very strong Australian team in the 1960s, and he became a leader across the game as Australian and New South Wales captain and as a coach”.
“Bob’s decision to come out of retirement to successfully lead the Australian team during the advent of World Series Cricket in 1977 was a wonderful service to the game, and his coaching set the foundation for a golden generation for Australian cricket,” Baird said in a statement.
First full-time coach
According to AFP, Simpson became Australia’s first full-time coach in the 1980s, leading the team’s re-emergence and overseeing several top players, including Shane Warne.
Simpson was inducted in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
He achieved 21,029 runs at an average of 56.22 in first-class cricket, hit 60 centuries and took 349 wickets at an average of 38.07, according to the Sports Australia Hall of Fame.
