Reg Simpson
Encyclopedia
Reginald Thomas Simpson (born 27 February 1920) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 former cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er, who played in twentry seven Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 from 1948 to 1955.

Life and career

Born in Sherwood, Nottingham
Sherwood, Nottingham
Sherwood is a largely residential area in the north east of Nottingham, England. It is approximately 1.5 miles North of Nottingham City Centre...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 delayed Simpson's first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 debut in England until he was 26, but the elegant opening batsman made an immediate impression, and he was picked for the 1948-49 tour of South Africa
English cricket team in South Africa in 1948-49
The England national cricket team toured South Africa in the 1948-49 season. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and the side played five Test matches as England and 16 other first-class matches as "MCC". Two of the first-class matches took place in Rhodesia...

 on which he played his first Test without success. He returned to the England side in the middle order against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...

 in 1949, and scored a century but with Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...

 and Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook 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 batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...

 embedded as England's first choice openers, he could not secure a regular place in the side.

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
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...

 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 champions, New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...

. 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, who he regarded with contempt. He assumed the captaincy
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...

 of a frail Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

 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.

After retiring from playing cricket, Simpson served on the Nottinghamshire committee and was a director of Gunn and Moore.

On the death of Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...

on 4 April 2010, Simpson became the oldest surviving England Test cricketer.
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