Craig Simmons
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Craig Joseph Simmons (born 1 December 1982) is an Australian former professional cricketer. He played domestically for
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Scorchers wear an orange uniform and are based in Perth in the Australian state of Western Australia. Their home gr ...
and
Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...
. At
grade cricket Grade cricket (also known as premier cricket) is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states and territories. The term may refer to: *Victorian Premier Cricket * NSW Premier Cricket * Queens ...
level, he plays for Rockingham-Mandurah in the WACA district competition, having previously played for
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
in WACA district matches and Gordon in
Sydney Grade Cricket NSW Premier Cricket, formerly and still commonly known as Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia, and is highest level club cricket competition in the state of New South Wales The competition began in 1893 when ...
matches. A left-handed batsman, Simmons represented the Australian national under-19 side at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, playing seven matches. At the tournament, he scored 155 runs from 115 balls against Kenya's under-19 team, contributing to Australia's total of 6/480 from 50 overs and eventual win by 430 runs. Simmons made his first-class debut for Western Australia in December 2003, against
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
at the
WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...
in Perth. He transferred to New South Wales for the 2005–06 season, and regularly played
ING Cup The Ing Cup () is an international Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki. The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics. In the 7th In ...
matches, as well as top-scoring for New South Wales in the final of the inaugural KFC Twenty20 Big Bash season, which the team lost to Victoria. Playing only twice at state level the following season, Simmons'
Cricket NSW Cricket NSW (officially known as the ''New South Wales Cricket Association'') is an Australian sporting association that administers cricket in New South Wales. It is based at the Sydney Olympic Park. The New South Wales Blues, the New South W ...
contract was not renewed for the 2007–08 season, and he subsequently returned to Western Australia, breaking into the side for a small number of games during the 2008–09 and 2011–12 seasons. After good form for Rockingham-Mandurah at district level, Simmons replaced the injured Liam Davis in the
Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Scorchers wear an orange uniform and are based in Perth in the Australian state of Western Australia. Their home gr ...
' squad for the 2013–14 Big Bash League season. In his fourth game for the Scorchers, against the
Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...
in mid-January 2014, Simmons scored a century from 39 balls, breaking the record for the fastest
Big Bash League The Big Bash League (BBL), also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Australia. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competitio ...
century; a record that would not be matched until 11 years later when Mitchell Owen of the
Hobart Hurricanes Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Hobart, Tasmania. They compete in Australia's domestic Big Bash League. The Hurricanes play the majority of their home matches at Ninja Stadium ...
tied it during the 2024-25 final. He was dismissed shortly after, finishing with 102 runs from 41 balls, with his innings including eight fours and eight sixes. In the team's semi-final against the
Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers is an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the Spee ...
, Simmons scored another century, 112 runs from 58 balls. He thus became the first player to score two centuries in Big Bash League matches, and also equalled
Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricket team, Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is wide ...
's competition record of eleven sixes in a match. As of that match, he has a
strike rate Strike rate refers to two different cricket statistics, statistics in the sport of cricket. Batting strike rate is a measure of how quickly a batsman, batter achieves the primary goal of batting (cricket), batting, namely scoring run (cricket), r ...
of 176.51 runs per 100 balls, the best of any player who has faced over 125 balls in the competition.Big Bash League / Records / Highest strike rates
– ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 February 2014. He subsequently signed for the
Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...
for the 2014–15 and the 2015–16 BBL seasons.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Craig 1982 births Australian cricketers Cricketers from Sydney Living people New South Wales cricketers Perth Scorchers cricketers Western Australia cricketers Adelaide Strikers cricketers 21st-century Australian sportsmen