Robert George 'Bob' Simons (23 March 1922 – 21 December 2011) was an English

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. Simons was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who fielded as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

. He was born at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, Hertfordshire, and was educated at

Berkhamsted School Berkhamsted School is a private day school (known in the UK as a public school), in the market town of Berkhamsted, in Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded ...

. Simons made his debut for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

in the 1939

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

against

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, with him making two further appearances that season against

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

ended

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

for six seasons until 1946. Following the war, Simons resumed playing for Hertfordshire in 1948. From 1948 to 1969, he made 116 further Minor Counties Championship appearances for the county, with his final appearance coming in the 1969 season against Bedfordshire. He made a single first-class appearance for the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

against the touring

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

at Longton Cricket Club Ground, Stoke-on-Trent in 1959. He was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

by being

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

in the Minor Counties first-innings, while he wasn't required to bat in their second-innings. Behind the

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

he caught

Naren Tamhane Narendra Shankar Tamhane (4 August 1931 – 19 March 2002) was an Indian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1960. He was a wicket-keeper-batsman. His first-class career extended from 1951–52 to 1968–69. He played in th ...

and stumped

Pankaj Roy Pankaj Roy (; 31 May 1928 – 4 February 2001) was an Indian cricketer who played in 43 test matches, including once as captain. He was a right-handed opening batsman, perhaps best known for establishing the world record opening partnership in ...

from the bowling of Colin Atkinson. Simons also played two

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

matches for Hertfordshire. The first came in the

1964 Gillette Cup The 1964 Gillette Cup was the second Gillette Cup, an English limited overs county cricket tournament. It was held between 25 April and 5 September 1964, and was won by the defending champions Sussex. First round ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

in Hertfordshire's inaugural List A match against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. Hertfordshire were dismissed for 63, which was at the time the lowest total made in that format. Simons was dismissed by John Bailey for 7 runs, with Durham winning by 7 wickets. His second match in that format came against Berkshire in the

1966 Gillette Cup The 1966 Gillette Cup was the fourth Friends Provident Trophy, Gillette Cup, an English limited overs cricket, limited overs county cricket tournament. It was held between 28 April and 3 September 1966. The tournament was won by Warwickshire Count ...

, with him being dismissed for 7 by David Mordaunt, with Hertfordshire scoring 167 all out in their innings. Berkshire won the match by 2 wickets. Later in his life he became the President of the Hertfordshire County Cricket Association, of which he later became an honorary life member. He was also the Chairman of Hertfordshire County Cricket Club from 1988 to 1992, and its President until 2003. He died on 21 December 2011, aged 89.

References

External links

Robert Simons
at

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Robert Simons
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Robert 1922 births 2011 deaths Cricketers from Watford People educated at Berkhamsted School English cricketers Hertfordshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers English cricket administrators Bestselling case authors Wicket-keepers 20th-century English sportsmen