Jack Simmons, MBE (b. 28 March 1941) is a former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Early life

Born 28 March 1941,

Clayton-le-Moors Clayton-le-Moors is an industrial town in the Borough of Hyndburn in the county of Lancashire, England. located two miles north of Accrington. The town has a population of 8,522 according to the 2011 census. To the west lies Rishton, to the n ...

, Lancashire, Simmons grew up there. He attended Accrington Technical School and then Blackburn Technical College, where he proved to be a gifted cricketer. However he did not show enough consistency at an early stage to attract the attention of County selectors. Instead following leaving school he became a journeyman professional cricketer in the lower Lancashire leagues. However his reputation and ability soon developed, and by his late 20s,

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

had begun to scout him.

First-class career

Simmons was a lower-order right-hand batsman and a right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to ...

bowler who achieved almost iconic status for both the major teams that he played for. Solidly-built, he looked very little like an athlete, yet his close fielding was sharp and he remained fit into his late 40s. A late arrival in county cricket at the age of 28, Simmons then enjoyed a 20-year career in which he was an integral part of the Lancashire side, though rarely hitting the headlines. His flat bowling trajectory and his accuracy meant that he could be economical in one-day cricket, and he was part of the highly successful Lancashire side under Jack Bond that won the Gillette Cup, the premier one-day competition in England, for three years in a row from 1970 to 1972. Simmons and slow left-arm bowler David Hughes were the first pair of spin bowlers to be used regularly and successfully in one-day cricket, which had previously been the preserve of seam bowling. In

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

, Simmons reliably contributed more than 500 runs and 50 wickets in most seasons in his career,Statistical summary
/ref> and at the age of 47, he took 63 wickets in the 1988 season. The affection for "Flat Jack" in Lancashire was shown by his 1980 benefit, which raised £128,000. He was 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 for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1985. In 1972–73, he was invited to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

the local state side, whose first-class matches were restricted to games against touring sides. In six seasons as captain, Simmons led

into full first-class status and into the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

competition from 1977–78.

Later life

After half a dozen matches in the 1989 English season, Simmons retired. He has been County Chairman of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1998 and was elected as the Chairman of Cricket for the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

in January 2008.

References

External links

*
CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jack 1941 births Living people English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Tasmania cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Clayton-le-Moors Members of the Order of the British Empire Cricketers from Lancashire 20th-century English sportsmen

Early life

First-class career

Later life

See also

References

External links