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Bob Simpson, former Australian cricket captain and coach, passed away in Sydney at 89.
The cricketer – whose birth name was Robert Baddeley Simpson – was an influential figure in Australian cricket, where he spent more than four decades as a player, captain and coach.
He also left his mark on cricket as a lawmaker, referee and commentator.
Debuting in the Australian Test cricket team in 1957, Simpson observed a headline-making comeback nine years after his retirement, in 1977, to lead the squad at the age of 41 against India and the West Indies.
Born in Marrickville on February 3, 1936, Simpson took to cricket early, captaining teams in primary and high school, where he was chosen to represent his state aged 12 and took the field in his first Sheffield Shield game for NSW aged just 16.
He was the second Australian – after Don Bradman – to make 300 in a Test, scoring 311 against England at Old Trafford in 1964, his maiden Test century.
Moreover, the batsman led the team in tours of the UK, the West Indies and India but decided to retire in 1968, playing his last match in Sydney against India under the captaincy of Bill Lawry.
Bob Simpson was also a member of the MCC committee which rewrote the laws of the game in the late 1990s.
He was first appointed a Member in the Order of Australia in 1978, which was upgraded to Officer (AO) in 2007 for services to the game as a coach, consultant and administrator.
