Bob Simpson (cricketer) - Early International Career

Early International Career

After the 1956 Ashes series, captain Ian Johnson and vice-captain Keith Miller both retired, creating more openings in a struggling national team. After a slow start for his adopted state, Simpson hit form in December, registering a sequence of 75, 97, 26, 96 and 112 not out, the latter two scores coming in a match against Queensland. Towards the end of the season, Simpson was selected for Lindwall's XI for a match against Harvey's XI. These matches were typically used as a selection trial for the 22 strongest players in the country. Simpson failed to make significant impact, scoring 35 and 10, and he ended the season with 572 runs at 47.66. He had another ineffective summer with the ball, taking two wickets at 95.50.

Simpson was one of many young players—eight of whom were uncapped—selected in an Australian side which toured New Zealand under Ian Craig in 1956–57. Australia was in a rebuilding phase and Test selection was at stake. He scored 263 runs at 43.83 in the first-class matches, including two half-centuries. Simpson played in all three matches against New Zealand, and scored 47, 67, 26 not out, a duck and 8 not out. His 67 was the top-score in the first innings of the second representative match.

In the following season, Simpson was selected for the Test tour of South Africa in 1957–58. The young Australian team was derided as the worst to leave Australian shores. In the tour matches leading up to the Tests, Simpson performed consistently. He scored 103 against Transvaal and 53 not out against Eastern Province, and totaled 304 runs at 60.66 in seven matches ahead of the Tests.

Although his form during the Tests was poor, Simpson added 150 against Griqualand West and scored 671 runs at 47.92.

This earned Simpson his debut against South Africa in the First Test at Johannesburg. He compiled 60 in the first innings before being trapped leg before wicket by Hugh Tayfield. He took three catches and scored 23 not out in the second innings. He struggled in the remaining four Tests, with only 53 more runs in the remaining five innings to end with 136 runs at 22.67 in the Tests. His catching form was exceptional, yielding 13 catches in the five Tests and playing a factor in his retention in the team. In all Simpson took 26 catches in 16 matches. He took two wickets at 64.50 in the first-class matches, and managed 6/61 in a non-first-class match against the South African Country Districts.

Unsatisfied with these performances, he sought the advice of vice-captain Neil Harvey, who advised him that he was playing too square on while defending on the back foot.

After his unconvincing performances with the bat in the South African Tests, Simpson needed runs at the start of the 1958–59 season to retain his position in the national team for the Ashes series against England. His first two matches of the season were for Western Australia and a Western Australia Combined XI against the Englishmen, and he scored 60 and 17. In three further Shield matches, he continued his habit of not converting starts into larger scores, registering scores of between 31 and 67 in all six innings with three half-centuries. Up to this point, he had scored 364 runs at 52.00, and Simpson was selected for the Australian XI match against May's Englishmen, effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests. He failed in both innings with two and a duck, and the hosts were crushed by 345 runs. Simpson was overlooked for selection for the First Test at Brisbane against England. Norm O'Neill, who had scored 1,003 runs at 83.75 in the previous season, while Simpson was in South Africa, took his middle-order position. Peter Burge failed in the First Test, resulting in Simpson's recall for the Second Test at Melbourne. Simpson made a duck in his only innings as Australia won by eight wickets and was subsequently omitted for the remainder of the series. At the time, Australia had three all rounders who were capable with the bat:Ken Mackay, Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson. This meant that Australia needed only five specialist batsmen and in the Fifth Test of the series, only four were used in order to accommodate an extra bowler. Simpson was facing heavy competition for a Test position. Simpson scored 91 runs in four innings in the remainder of the season, which was not enough for him to force his way back into the Test team. It was another sparse summer with the ball for Simpson, who took two wickets at 41.50.

In the southern hemisphere winter in 1959, Simpson played a season in the Lancashire League in England as Accrington's professional player, receiving a 950-pound contract. He scored 1444 runs at 103.14, returning a better statistical analysis than Gary Sobers, and took 47 wickets at 20.82. Simpson's top-score of 122 not out came against Ramsbottom and added another triple-figure score against Bacup, and his season included 11 consecutive fifties including a century, seven of which were unbeaten. In all, he scored two centuries and 14 fifties in 26 innings. He took five-wicket hauls three times with a best of 6/40 against Nelson.

Despite this, Simpson was not selected for the squad for the series against India and Pakistan on the 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent. He started the season with a campaign with a Commonwealth XI in South Africa. In three matches, Simpson continued to suffer problems in converting his starts into large scores. He made 204 runs at 40.80; all his scores were between 31 and 58. He had more success with the ball than in previous seasons, taking five wickets at 19.20.

Simpson returned to Australia, he had a productive period in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia, rectifying his prior problem of not capitalising on his starts. On the advice of Harvey, he reinvented himself as an opening batsman in an attempt to exploit the opportunity opened by the retirement of Test opener Jimmy Burke. At the start of the 1959–60 Australian season, he scored 98 and took a total of 2/77 in a drawn match against Victoria. In the next match, Simpson broke through for his maiden double-century, posting 236 not out in Western Australia's 4/487 declared against New South Wales. In contrast, Simpson's native state could manage a match total of only 382 in an innings defeat, as he took 1/17 and 5/45. Simpson then made his second double-century in as many innings, posting 230 not out in an innings win against Queensland, more than 57% of his team's runs. His innings of 79 in the draw against South Australia was his lowest score of the season and ended the summer with 98 and 161 not out against New South Wales, carrying his bat in the second innings of a defeat and again scoring the majority of his state's runs for the match. Simpson reflected that "I spent two years turning myself into an overnight success."

These efforts yielded a total of 902 runs at 300.66, and nine wickets at 38.66. He was selected for a non-Test tour of New Zealand by Australia's Second XI, as the first-choice team was still in the subcontinent. Playing as an opener, he scored 418 runs at 69.66 in four representative matches. This included an unbeaten 129 in the third match that guided Australia to an eight-wicket win. During this period, Simpson transformed into a less flamboyant and more solid player who eschewed the hook shot and swayed backwards to avoid short balls. He also took 10 wickets at 27.60 in the international matches, including 4/80 in the second innings of the second fixture.

Just prior to the next Australian season, Simpson was selected for the International Cavaliers team that toured South Africa and Rhodesia. He played in four matches and scored 428 runs at 71.33, including a 178 against Transvaal and 128 against the South African Invitation XI. He took nine wickets at 35.44, including 4/110 against Natal.