Bob Simpson (cricketer) - Retirement and Comeback

Retirement and Comeback

Retired from Test cricket, Simpson toured England in 1968 as a member of the press gallery and later worked in public relations. He looked after promotion and marketing earnings for cricketers in an era where they struggled to survive financially. During the 1975–76 season, he had organised for both Australian and West Indian players to market shampoo and deodorant, and he helped to find sponsors for the Australian team. He also called for the revival of the Cavaliers XI concept to boost the popularity of cricket. He wrote a book titled Captain's Story, in which he expressed his anger against bowlers that he believed to have bowled with an illegal action. His former team-mate Meckiff took issue with the contents and sued for libel. After five years of litigation, Simpson settled out of court and apologised to Meckiff.

When Test cricket was decimated by the breakaway World Series Cricket in 1977, Simpson made a comeback after a decade in retirement to captain New South Wales and Australia at the age of 41. All of Australia's first-choice players had defected apart from Jeff Thomson. Simpson had been playing for Western Suburbs in Sydney Grade Cricket but had not been playing at first-class level for a decade.

His first assignment was a five Test series against India, and Simpson began where he left off a decade earlier. He top-scored with 89 in the second innings of the First Test in Brisbane, before scoring 176 and 39 as Australia won in Perth. Simpson failed to pass double figures in the Third Test in Melbourne, and made 30s in both innings in Sydney, as the Indians won two consecutive Tests to level the series. Simpson responded with 100 and 51 in the deciding Fifth Test in Adelaide as Australia scraped to a 3–2 series victory. Simpson totalled 539 runs at 53.90 and took four wickets.

He then led Australia on a tour of the West Indies, then the strongest team in the world. He made only one half century, 67 in the Third Test in Georgetown, Guyana. It was the only Test that Australia won in a 3–1 series loss. He had a disappointing series scoring 199 runs at 22.11 and taking seven wickets at 52.28. Simpson wanted to continue playing Tests as Australia hosted Mike Brearley's Englishmen in 1978–79. His players wanted him to continue, but the Australian Cricket Board voted him out and installed Graham Yallop as the skipper. During his comeback, he had accumulated his 60th first-class century against Barbados during the Caribbean tour and become the oldest Australian to score a Test century on home soil.

Simpson retired after the tour at the age of 42. He had scored 5,317 runs for New South Wales at 53.17. In Sydney Grade Cricket, he scored 10,111 runs at 61.65 and took 186 wickets at 23.62.