Reginald Thomas Simpson (27 February 1920 – 22 November 2013) was an English

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 ...

er, who played in 27

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

from 1948 to 1955.

Life and career

Born in

Sherwood, Nottingham Sherwood () is a large district and ward of the city of Nottingham, England, north of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 15,414. It is bordered by Woodthorpe to the northeast, Mapperley to the east, Carrington to the so ...

, England, Simpson attended

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

. At the age of 13, having participated in an opening partnership of 467 with Henry Betts in a house game, Simpson was selected for the High School first team. He first gave notice of his abilities at a higher level scoring 134 not out for

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Nottinghamshire. The club's limited overs team is called the ...

against the RAF at Trent Bridge in 1940. During the war he served as a pilot with the RAF but also took the opportunity to play cricket for the RAF alongside the likes of

Wally Hammond Walter Reginald Hammond (19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed cap ...

and

Bill Edrich William John Edrich (26 March 1916 – 24 April 1986) was a first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middlesex, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Norfolk County Cricket Club, Norfolk and England cricket team, England. Ed ...

, for the Europeans in India alongside

Joe Hardstaff junior Joseph Hardstaff Jr (3 July 1911 – 1 January 1990) was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Test matches for England from 1935 to 1948. Hardstaff's father, Joe senior played for Nottinghamshire and England and his son, also nam ...

and

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most o ...

and occasional games for Notts. Following the war Simpson made an immediate impression on the game, and was picked for the 1948–49 tour of South Africa on which he played his first Test, without success. He returned to the England side in the middle order against

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 ...

in 1949, and scored a century, but with

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. ''Wisden Cricketer ...

and

Cyril Washbrook Cyril Washbrook (6 December 1914 – 27 April 1999) was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the bat ...

embedded as England's first choice openers, he could not secure a regular place in the side. Simpson was named one of the Five Cricketers of the Year by

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

in 1950. He toured Australia for the 1950-51 Ashes series and made 349 runs (38.77), second only to Hutton in the England averages. He made 156

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

on his 31st birthday in the fifth and final Test. This innings was the finest of his career, first adding 131 with Hutton and making 64 out of a stand of 74 for the last wicket, to put England 103 runs ahead, and gave them their first victory against Australia since 1938. It was the highest score of his Test career, and he also made his highest first-class hundred of 259 against the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

champions,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He returned for the 1954-55 Ashes series under Hutton, but played in only one Test. He was a fearless and effective player of fast bowling, but had a habit of getting out to spin bowlers, whom he regarded with contempt. He assumed the

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

of a frail

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

side in 1951, and held the position for a decade despite nagging injuries. His county remained largely unsuccessful despite his efforts as skipper, and amassing over 30,000 runs in his career. Simpson scored 64 centuries in all. He topped the national batting averages in 1962, with 867 runs at 54.18, and retired after the 1963 season. After retiring from playing cricket, Simpson served on the Nottinghamshire committee and was a director of Gunn and Moore. In the 1970s Simpson moved to

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

where he became the president of Nuform Sports Cricket Club and occasionally played for them in charity and friendly matches, he remained president until the club folded in 1994. On the death of

Alec Bedser Sir Alec Victor Bedser (4 July 1918 – 4 April 2010) was a professional English cricketer, primarily a medium-fast bowler. He is widely regarded as one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century. Bedser played first-class cricket fo ...

on 4 April 2010, Simpson became the oldest surviving England Test cricketer.List of oldest living Test players
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Reg 1920 births 2013 deaths Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Nottingham England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Nottinghamshire cricket captains Europeans cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers from Nottingham Sindh cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers People educated at Nottingham High School Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Gentlemen of England cricketers People from Sherwood, Nottingham Cricketers from Nottinghamshire H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers