Phil Simmons
Encyclopedia
Philip Veraint Simmons is a former skilled all-round
cricket
er who played as an opening batsman a useful bowler
and a talented slip fielder.
and he lived just two doors down from Larry Gomes
a former West Indian batsman. He proved to be adept at a number of sports, but excelled at cricket
and was soon playing for the regional side East Zone. He made the leap to represent Trinidad and Tobago
in 1983 with the help and encouragement of Rohan Kanhai
, the coach at East Zone.
He played cricket for a number of First-class
sides in the West Indies and England
as well as international cricket for the West Indian cricket team
. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year
in 1997.
He had an outstanding career in First-class cricket
, averaging 35.61 with the bat and 28.68 with the ball. During the 1996 season with Leicestershire
he accumulated 1244 runs and took 56 wickets and 35 catches, helping his side to win the County Championship
that year for only the second time in their history. However, like many cricketers before him he found the transition to Test level
difficult, although he proved more adept to at the international one day game. His international career didn't get off to the most auspicious start.
on his debut tour of England
he was struck on the head by a fast ball
from David Lawrence
in bad light at Bristol
. His heart
stopped and he required emergency surgery
at Frenchay Hospital
, from which he recovered fully. He remains in close contact with the surgeon who saved his life, Nigel Rawlinson.
He found himself having to defend the Test status
of his country after an appalling losing streak, including a loss to Bangladesh
who were widely seen as the worst Test side in the world. The Zimbabwe cricket union made him a scapegoat
for the problems in the side and he was sacked under farcical
conditions in August 2005 after persistent rumours of his impending dismissal. The official notice of his removal was dated two days before it was actually released. Many commentators felt that he was simply too kindly and naive to have succeeded in such a difficult position.
Simmons succeeded Adrian Birrell
as coach of the Ireland national cricket team after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
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 as an opening batsman a useful bowler
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
and a talented slip fielder.
Career
Simmons' first home was in Arima, Trinidad a few miles outside Port of SpainPort of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
and he lived just two doors down from Larry Gomes
Larry Gomes
Hilary Angelo Gomes is a former West Indian cricketer.He toured England with the West Indian Schoolboys team in 1967 and he made his first-class debut as a left-handed batsman for Trinidad and Tobogo versus the New Zealanders in 1971/72. He joined Middlesex in 1972 and played between 1973 and 1976...
a former West Indian batsman. He proved to be adept at a number of sports, but excelled at 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...
and was soon playing for the regional side East Zone. He made the leap to represent Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
in 1983 with the help and encouragement of Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...
, the coach at East Zone.
He played cricket for a number of 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...
sides in the West Indies and 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...
as well as international cricket for the West Indian cricket team
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1997.
He had an outstanding career in First-class cricket
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...
, averaging 35.61 with the bat and 28.68 with the ball. During the 1996 season with Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
he accumulated 1244 runs and took 56 wickets and 35 catches, helping his side to win the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
that year for only the second time in their history. However, like many cricketers before him he found the transition to Test level
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...
difficult, although he proved more adept to at the international one day game. His international career didn't get off to the most auspicious start.
Serious injury
During a 1988 tour match against GloucestershireGloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
on his debut tour of 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...
he was struck on the head by a fast ball
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
from David Lawrence
David Lawrence (cricketer)
David Valentine Lawrence is a former English cricketer, who played in five Tests and one ODI for England from 1988 to 1992....
in bad light at Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. His heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
stopped and he required emergency surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
at Frenchay Hospital
Frenchay Hospital
Frenchay Hospital is a large hospital situated in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire, on the outskirts of Bristol, England, part of the North Bristol NHS Trust....
, from which he recovered fully. He remains in close contact with the surgeon who saved his life, Nigel Rawlinson.
Coaching career
Simmons retired from playing in 2002 but continued to be involved in the sport as a coach. His efforts in this area lead to him being appointed as the head coach to the Zimbabwe cricket team in 2004. Almost inevitably this proved a difficult and controversial job, not least because he inherited a team heavily weakened thanks to the mass dismissal of most of the senior players.He found himself having to defend the Test status
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...
of his country after an appalling losing streak, including a loss to Bangladesh
Bangladeshi cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board . Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status...
who were widely seen as the worst Test side in the world. The Zimbabwe cricket union made him a scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
for the problems in the side and he was sacked under farcical
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
conditions in August 2005 after persistent rumours of his impending dismissal. The official notice of his removal was dated two days before it was actually released. Many commentators felt that he was simply too kindly and naive to have succeeded in such a difficult position.
Simmons succeeded Adrian Birrell
Adrian Birrell
Adrian Victor Birrell in Grahamstown, Cape Province is a former South African first class cricketer and Irish cricket coach. A leg break bowler, Birrell took 75 wickets at 30.16 in his career for Eastern Province, before turning to coaching.He led Ireland in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup where...
as coach of the Ireland national cricket team after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.
External links
- Phil Simmons at CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- Phil Simmons at CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...
- Matches and detailed statistics for Phil Simmons