Robert Baddeley Simpson (born 3 February 1936) is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963/64 until 1967/68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team. He is also known as Bobby or Simmo.
Simpson played as a right-handed batsman and semi-regular leg spin bowler. After ten years in retirement, he returned to the spotlight at age 41 to captain Australia during the era of World Series Cricket.
In 1986 he was appointed coach of the Australian team, a position he held until being replaced by Geoff Marsh in July 1996. Under Simpson's tutelage, the team went from a struggling team, losing a succession of Test series, to the strongest team in world cricket. Some of the team's greatest achievements in his time as coach were winning the 1987 World Cup, regaining The Ashes in England in 1989, and overcoming the previously dominant West Indies on their home grounds in 1995. He also coached county cricket in England, with Leicestershire and Lancashire.
Early years
Born to Scottish immigrants from Falkirk, Simpson grew up in the inner-southwestern Sydney suburb of Marrickville. His father Jock was a printer and played soccer for Stenhousemuir in the Scottish League, his grandfather Harry played briefly for Stoke, and the 1910s England international player Jock Simpson was also a relative. Simpson was encouraged as a schoolboy by his two elder brothers Bill and Jack, who played in first division Sydney Grade Cricket for many years. He began his own career as a fast bowler and batsman who played in any position. He showed early leadership skills, captaining Marrickville West Primary School and later Tempe Intermediate High School. He captained 14-year-olds at the age of 12.
In his early years, Simpson was also a talented golfer, baseballer and soccer player, and was known for being a confident and tenacious competitor. He raised money to buy his first set of golf clubs by collecting lost balls from Marrickville Golf Course and selling them second hand. Even at a young age, Simpson was known as an unrelenting competitor. He appealed loudly against brother Jack for leg before wicket (lbw) in a club match in spite of a loud edge; the umpire did not hear the favour and upheld the appeal. In a match in 1956, Simpson appealed for lbw against John Shaw after he had been hit in the head by a low bouncer from Pat Crawford, whereas his teammates were busy coming to the aid of the injured batsman. Simpson said "I was a naturally ambitious person anyway and never had any doubts I could go further. It sounds cocky but I always believed in my own talents."
At 12, he was selected for New South Wales in the Under-14 Competition. He switched to leg spin at the age of thirteen, and a week after turning 15 he was playing for Petersham's First XI in Sydney Grade Cricket after hitting string of centuries in the under-16 competition.
Simpson had his first taste of first-class cricket as a slips fieldsman, having previously fielded on the boundary. Coming on as 12th man, Keith Miller casually pointed him to the slips, which in that era was against convention, as substitutes were expected to not field in close catching positions. He took two diving catches to establish his position in the cordon.
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 teammates, 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.