Bob Simpson (cricketer) - First-class Debut

First-class Debut

He was still 11 days shy of his seventeenth birthday when he was selected to make his Sheffield Shield debut as a middle order batsman for New South Wales against Victoria in the 1952–53 season. He had played only 12 first grade matches prior to this. When he arrived to meet his team-mates, Australian vice-captain Arthur Morris asked him where his nappies were. At the age of 16 years and 354 days, this made him the second youngest cricketer to be capped for New South Wales, just three months older than teammate Ian Craig when he made his debut. He scored 44 and 8, without being dismissed in either innings. According to Haigh, "Great protectiveness was felt towards such a boy among men." From the last ball of a drawn match, Simpson attempted to run two, but his misjudgment saw him caught short by half the pitch. Nevertheless umpire Hugh McKinnon turned down the appeal, and after Victorian captain Sam Loxton reacted angrily, the arbiter said "it's the last ball of the game and his first match". Simpson took his maiden wicket during the match, catching Test player Ian Johnson from his own bowling.

Simpson then scored 69 in the next match against South Australia, his only other innings and match for the season. The 1953–54 season was a purely domestic one, with no international team touring. New South Wales were the strongest state at the time with many Test players and won the first of nine consecutive Sheffield Shield titles, and Simpson found it difficult to break into the team at full strength. He played two matches at the start of the season, and two more at the end of the summer; New South Wales won all of these fixtures except the first, which was drawn. Simpson had few opportunities with the bat because of the strong batting line-up; he was only required to bat six times and his two highest innings of 58 and 42 were ended when New South Wales reached their target, leaving him unbeaten. He ended with 147 runs at 36.75, and had more success with the ball, taking 14 wickets at 27.85. Simpson's bowling was prominent in the last two matches; he took 5/37 in the second innings against Western Australia, bowling four of his victims, and then took 4/38 and 2/83 against South Australia as New South Wales won both matches.

The following season in 1954–55, Simpson had more chances in the New South Wales middle order as the Test players were often playing for Australia against the touring English cricket team. However, he failed to make the use of this, scoring only 123 runs in the first seven innings and was in and out of the team. He then struck form against Victoria, scoring 104 of New South Wales' 234. This was pivotal in a low-scoring match as Victoria made only 86 and 158 and helped New South Wales to a nine-wicket win. Simpson's final match of the season was against the Englishmen. He made six in the first innings as both teams made 172. In the second innings, Simpson reached 98, when light drizzle began to fall and English captain Len Hutton decided to engage in mind games by ordering his men to leave the ground even though the umpires had not adjourned the match. When the visitors returned to the field, Simpson feared another rain delay would stop him reaching his century, so he charged English spinner Johnny Wardle and was stumped. Nevertheless, he helped his state to inflict a rare defeat on Hutton's men; they had won the Tests convincingly 3–1 and had otherwise not been beaten on the tour. The end-of-season run-scoring pushed Simpson's tally for the season to 331 at 33.10; he bowled only in the first two matches of the summer, totalling 1/58.

At the start of the 1955–56, Simpson was hit in the nose by a bouncer, forcing him to have two operations. However, he missed only one Shield match against Victoria and played in the remainder of New South Wales' matches, despite the presence of the Test players for the full season, which was purely domestic. Simpson failed to make the most of his opportunities with the bat; in 11 completed innings, he reached 20 on nine occasions, but failed to convert the starts into big scores. His best scores was 79 and 57, and he was dismissed between 20 and 43 seven times. He ended the season with 406 runs at 36.90, and had little success with the ball, taking two wickets at 97.50 at the expensive economy rate of 5.73. Simpson was overlooked for selection for the 1956 tour of England, much to the surprise of English skipper Peter May. Australia lost its third consecutive Ashes tour and in doing so suffered two successive innings defeats, something that it had not suffered for 68 years.

Simpson was under pressure to hold his place in the team, so he moved to Western Australia at the end of the 1955–56 season. At the age of 20, he changed professions from accounting with the Sydney Water Board to journalism, having been given a newspaper editorial post with the Daily News in Perth. During the time, he lived in the house of Fremantle Cricket Club President Bob Ballantine.