Bob Simpson, the former Australia cricket captain and coach who guided the team back to prominence, has died in Sydney aged 89. His career in the sport spanned more than four decades as a player, captain and coach, and he also served as a law-maker, referee and commentator.
Simpson, born in Marrickville, inner-Sydney, made his Test debut in 1956 and went on to form a formidable opening partnership with Bill Lawry. He was the second Australian, after Don Bradman, to score a triple century in a Test, hitting 311 against England at Old Trafford in 1964. As a slips fielder, he took 110 catches in 62 Tests between 1957 and 1978. He captained Australia from 1964, previously under Richie Benaud, and retired from representative cricket in 1968 before returning in 1977, at 41, during the World Series Cricket crisis.
As Australia’s first full-time coach, from 1986 to 1996, Simpson presided over a golden era with captains Allan Border and Mark Taylor. The team won the 1987 World Cup, regained the Ashes in England in 1989 and defeated the West Indies away in 1995.
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh led tributes, saying: “No one gave more to Australian cricket than Bob Simpson – coach, player, commentator, writer, selector, mentor and journalist.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on X: “Bob Simpson’s extraordinary service to Australian cricket spanned generations.” Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird called him “one of the greats of Australian cricket”.
Simpson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1978, upgraded to Officer (AO) in 2007. He later sat on the MCC committee that rewrote the laws of cricket in the late 1990s, and coached in five Test-playing nations as well as emerging cricket countries such as Nepal, China and the Netherlands.
