Australian cricket has lost a giant after former Test captain and the first full-time coach Bob Simpson  died in Sydney at the age of 89.

Simpson is one of the most influential figures in the history of Australian cricket. He played 62 Test matches between 1957 and 1978, averaging 46.81, and claimed 71 wickets while being known as one of the greatest slip fielders of his time. In first-class cricket, he amassed 21,029 runs and picked up 349 wickets with his legspin.

He had initially retired from the game in 1968 after an 11-year career as one of Australia’s finest openers, having played 50 Tests and captained in 29 of them. But he then made an extraordinary return as Test captain in Australia cricket’s hour of need after the World Series Cricket schism in 1977. Simpson, at the age of 41, led in five home Tests against India and five away Tests against a full-strength West Indies side then.

He finished with ten Test centuries, all of them made as captain, including 311 against England in Manchester in 1964 and two more double-centuries. He averaged 54.07 as captain after not making a century and only averaging 33.67 before he assumed the role from Richie Benaud during the home summer of 1963-64.

Simpson was again called upon by the then Australian Cricket Broad (now Cricket Australia) in 1986 during the nadir of Australia’s on-field performance as a Test nation, having not won a series for over two years.

Alongside captain Allan Border, Simpson was instrumental in instilling a culture of discipline and hard work into a younger group of players that were selected to regenerate Australian cricket, including David Boon, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh, Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes.

In 1987, he was added to the selection panel that was chaired by Laurie Sawle and oversaw the start of Australia’s next golden generation with Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting among a host players selected and coached by Simpson until he stood down in 1996.

Australia won the World Cup in 1987 and regained the Ashes in 1989, which they would hold until 2005. Australia regained the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1995, a trophy they had not held since 1976, having not beaten West Indies in a series anywhere during that time. That win in the Caribbean gave them the unofficial mantle of world No. 1 Test side.

Many of the players, including Warne, regarded Simpson as the best coach they ever had and pivotal to their develop as international players after also coming through the Australian Cricket Academy under former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, which had been established as a breeding ground during Simpson’s early years as Australia coach. Warne credited Simpson for convincing him to bowl around the wicket more often in certain conditions.

Simpson was known as a disciplinarian and famously made fitness and fielding a major priority as coach.

He was succeeded as Australian coach by one of his former players, Geoff Marsh, as the more senior team shifted their approach to preparation under the captaincy of Taylor after Border had retired in 1994.

Simpson went on to coach Leicestershire and Lancashire for short periods in English county cricket. He also worked as a coaching advisor for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy in India and as a consultant for India’s men’s team during the late 1990s.

He coached into his 70s, including with Netherlands through a successful qualification campaign to reach the 2007 World Cup.

He was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia in 1978, which was upgraded to Officer (AO) in 2007 for services to the game as a coach, consultant and administrator.

He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He is a member of the ICC Hall of fame and the Australian Cricket Hall of fame.

[Cricinfo]