Philip Verant Simmons (born 18 April 1963) is a Trinidadian cricket coach and former cricketer who was an all-rounder played as an opening

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, a medium-fast bowler and a

slip fielder In cricket, a slip fielder (collectively, a ''slip cordon'' or ''the slips'') is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many te ...

. He is the current coach of the

West Indies cricket team The West Indies cricket team, nicknamed the Windies, is a multi-national men's cricket team representing the mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region and administered by Cricket West I ...

Early life

Simmons' first home was in Arima, Trinidad, a few miles outside

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. He lived just two doors down from

Larry Gomes Hilary Angelo Gomes (born 13 July 1953) is a Trinidad and Tobago and West Indian former cricketer. Cricket career Gomes toured England with the West Indian youth team in 1970 and made his first-class debut as a left-handed batsman for Trinidad ...

, a former

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

. He proved to be adept at a number of sports, but excelled at

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and was soon playing for the regional side East Zone. He made the leap to represent

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in 1983 with the help and encouragement of

Rohan Kanhai Rohan Babulal Kanhai (born 26 December 1935) is a Guyanese former cricketer of Tamil Indo-Guyanese origin , who represented the West Indies in 79 Test matches. He is widely considered to be one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featur ...

, the coach at East Zone.

Domestic career

At the domestic level, he featured for

, English sides

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

along with South African clubs

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

and Easterns. During the 1996 season with Leicestershire, he marked his debut for the club in scoring 261, his highest score for the club, with 34 fours and four sixes against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He went on to accumulate 1244 runs with 56 wickets and 35 catches, helping his side to win the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

for only the second time in their history. Simmons also won the PCA

Player of the Year award Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is h ...

in 1996. He was thereafter named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1997. Simmons later helped Leicestershire to win another

title in 1998. During that campaign he took over the captaincy from James Whitaker and Chris Lewis. At the time Whitaker was ailing with an injury and Lewis was reprimanded for indisciplined behaviour. With Simmons at the helm, Leicestershire went on a six match winning streak and eventually claimed the title with a resounding triumph over

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. Simmons eventually scored 11682 runs at an average of 35.61 with 24 hundreds and 65 half centuries as well as 214 wickets picked up at an average of 28.68 with a sum of five 5 wicket hauls in his first class career.

International career

Like many before him, Simmons found the transition to

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

difficult, making only one century in his Test career (110 at Melbourne, during the West Indies' 1992-93 tour of Australia, and finishing his career in 1997 with a batting average of just 22.26 in 26 matches. Simmons proved more adept at the international one day game, playing a total of 143 ODI matches between 1987 and 1999. Making his ODI career at the 1987 Cricket World Cup, he made two half-centuries (50 against Pakistan and 89 against Sri Lanka). At the 1992 World Cup, he played four matches including scoring 110 versus Sri Lanka. In December 1992, during the 8th match of the

World Series Cup The Australian Tri-Series was an annual one day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested by Australia and two touring teams. The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of t ...

in Australia, Simmons won the Man of the Match award for his match-winning spell of 10 overs, 8 maidens, 3 runs, 4 wickets, with an economy of 0.30, against Pakistan. With this, Simmons holds the world record for most economical bowling performance (in terms of the fewest runs conceded) in an ODI among those who completed their maximum quota of overs (10 overs in a 50-over match). At Sharjah's Champions Trophy tri-series the following year he was named player of the series by scoring three half centuries and a total of 330 runs for the series. At the 1995/96 World Series Cup in Australia, which also included hosts Sri Lanka, Simmons failed to impress for which he was not selected for the 1996 World Cup. He was, however, recalled prior to the 1999 World Cup, where he played four matches, including his final ODI match (against Australia at Old Trafford).

Serious injury

During a 1988 tour match against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

on his debut tour of England, he was struck on the head by a fast ball from David Lawrence in bad light at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. His heart stopped and he required emergency surgery at

Frenchay Hospital Frenchay Hospital was a large hospital situated in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire, on the north east outskirts of Bristol, England, which is now closed. In 2014, it contracted to a few brain and head injuries services. It was managed by North B ...

, from which he recovered fully.

Coaching career

Simmons' playing days came to a close in 2002. He then embarked on a coaching career, firstly working at

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

based academy. During May 2004 he was appointed Zimbabwe's new head coach, replacing

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

Geoff Marsh Geoffrey Robert Marsh (born 31 December 1958) is a former Australian cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman. As the coach of Australia he was in charge w ...

. This came as the team was weakened due to the mass dismissal of several senior players. He found himself having to defend Zimbabwe's

Test status Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

in the midst of a losing streak, which included losses to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Simmons was eventually dismissed by the

Zimbabwe Cricket Union Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

in August 2005. Simmons succeeded

Adrian Birrell Adrian Victor "Adi" Birrell (born 8 December 1960) in Grahamstown, Cape Province is a South African cricket coach and former first class cricketer. A leg break bowler, Birrell took 75 wickets at 30.16 in his career for Eastern Province, before ...

as coach of the

Ireland national cricket team The Ireland cricket team represents All-Ireland, all of Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and organises the international team. Irela ...

after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. During his tenure, Ireland won a number of trophies and qualified for every major ICC event. He also steered them to victories over England at the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...

along with the West Indies and Zimbabwe at the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

. Simmons was at the helm with Ireland for over 224 matches, making him the longest serving coach in international matches. In March 2015, he accepted an offer to take charge as head coach of his native West Indies. WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead said of his signing, "Phil has a proven ability to develop players, while cultivating great team spirit and a winning culture, we have a number of young, talented players about whom he is excited to be coaching and we believe he is the right fit". In 2016, he led the West Indies team to a historic second T20 World Cup victory in India. At the time the former top ranking cricket team was in a period of significant struggles, and he was tasked with bringing the team from near the bottom of the top ten rankings and back into prominence. He was the batting coach for

Afghanistan national cricket team The Afghanistan men's national team ( ps, د افغانستان کرکټ ملي لوب‌‌‌‌‌‌ډله, fa, تیم ملی کریکت افغانستان) represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afgha ...

and later on was appointed as the head coach in 2017. In June 2019, he was named as the coach of the Brampton Wolves franchise team for the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament. In October 2019, he was reappointed as the head coach of the West Indies team. He resigned after the 2022 t20 World Cup in Australia but coached the team until the conclusion of the recently ended test tour of Australia.

Personal life

Phil Simmons is a fan of English football club Tottenham Hotspur. His nephew

Lendl Simmons Lendl Mark Platter Simmons (born 25 January 1985) is a Trinidadian cricketer who played internationally for the West Indies. He is a right-handed batsman, an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, and a part-time wicket-keeper. His uncle is for ...

is a cricketer who has also featured for the West Indies.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Phil 1963 births Living people Border cricketers Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Durham cricketers Easterns cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Trinidad and Tobago cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers West Indies Test cricketers Coaches of the West Indies cricket team Wisden Cricketers of the Year Trinidad and Tobago cricket coaches Wales National County cricketers Wales National County cricket captains Coaches of the Irish national cricket team People from Arima Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers