Phil Simmons

Not to be confused with Phil Simmonds.

Philip Simmons

Personal information
Full name	Philip Verant Simmons
Born	(1963-04-18) 18 April 1963 Arima, Trinidad
Batting	Right-hand
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-rounder, Coach
Relations	Lendl Simmons (nephew)
International information
National side	West Indies (1987-1999)
Test debut (cap 191)	11 January 1988 v India
Last Test	17 November 1997 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 51)	16 October 1987 v Pakistan
Last ODI	30 May 1999 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1983–2001	Trinidad and Tobago
1989–1990	Durham
1992–1993	Border
1994–1998	Leicestershire
1996–2000	Easterns
2000–2002	Wales Minor Counties
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 26 143 207 306 Runs scored 1,002 3,675 11,682 8,929 Batting average 22.26 28.93 35.61 33.19 100s/50s 1/4 5/18 24/65 12/54 Top score 110 122 261 166* Balls bowled 624 2,876 13,196 9,616 Wickets 4 83 214 214 Bowling average 64.25 34.65 28.68 34.49 5 wickets in innings – – 5 3 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling 2/34 4/3 7/49 5/33 Catches/stumpings 26/– 55/– 241/– 137/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 March 2010

Philip Verant Simmons (born 18 April 1963) is a former West Indian cricketer who was a all-rounder played as an opening batsman, a medium-fast bowler and a slip fielder. He also served as the coach of the West Indies cricket team.

Early life

Simmons' first home was in Arima, Trinidad, a few miles outside Port of Spain. 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.

Domestic career

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.

In his career in first-class cricket, he averaged 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.

International career

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. In W.C. 1992, Simmons got 3 matches to play (v India, he scored 20 runs off 22 balls, v Sri Lanka, he scored 110 runs off 125 balls and v Australia, he scored none). At Sharjah Champions Trophy in 1993, Simmons won the player of the series award by scoring 3 half centuries for achieving 330 runs as batsman. In World Series Cup 1995/96, which included host Australia and Sri Lanka, Simmons failed to impress through his all rounder performances which cost his place for the world cricket cup which was held in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.

In December 1992, during the 8th match of the Benson & Hedges World Series tournament, Simmons won the Man of the Match award for his match-winning spell of 10 overs, 8 maidens, 3 runs, 4 wickets, with an economy of 0.30, against Pakistan. With this, Simmons holds the world record for most economical (conceding less runs) bowling in an ODI among those who completed their maximum quota of overs (10 overs in a 50-over match). In 1993's Sharjah Champions Trophy which included Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Simmons scored 3 half centuries, 2 of them against Sri Lanka, 92 runs off 161 balls and 90 runs off 109 balls and 1 against Pakistan (81 runs off 94 balls). Simmons won player of the series awards for achieving 330 runs as batsman.

Serious injury

During a 1988 tour match against Gloucestershire 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.

Coaching career

Simmons retired from playing in 2002, then embarked on a successful coaching career. He was first appointed as the head coach to the Zimbabwe cricket team in 2004. 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 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. Simmons significantly improved Ireland's standing in world cricket as their coach. His tenure included 224 matches, making him the longest serving coach in international cricket.

During that time, Ireland won 11 trophies, qualified for every major ICC event, and achieved victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh at the 2007 World Cup, England at the 2011 World Cup and the West Indies and Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup.

In March 2015, he accepted an offer to coach to take charge of his native West Indies after the conclusion of the 2015 World Cup. WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead said of his signing, "Phil has a proven ability to develop players, while cultivating great team spirit and a winning culture, we have a number of young, talented players about whom he is excited to be coaching and we believe he is the right fit".

In 2016 he led the West Indies team to a historic second T20 world cup victory in India. At the time the former top ranking cricket team was in a period of significant struggles, and he was tasked with bringing the team from near the bottom of the top ten rankings and back into prominence.

Personal life

Phil Simmons is a fan of English football club Tottenham Hotspur. His nephew Lendl Simmons is also an international is West Indian player.

International centuries

Test centuries

Test centuries of Phil Simmons
No	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Start date	Result
[1]	110	10	Australia	Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Cricket Ground	26 December 1992	Lost

ODI centuries

One Day International centuries of Phil Simmons
No	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Date	Result
[1]	104*	9	India	Thiruvananthapuram, India	University Stadium	25 January 1988	Won
[2]	110	39	Sri Lanka	Berri, Australia	Berri Oval	13 March 1992	Won
[3]	122	41	South Africa	Kingston, Jamaica	Sabina Park	7 April 1992	Won
[4]	104	43	South Africa	Port of Spain, Trinidad	Queen's Park Oval	12 April 1992	Won
[5]	103*	116	New Zealand	Kingstown, St. Vincent	Arnos Vale Ground	6 April 1996	Won

International awards

One Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	Sri Lanka	Green Park Stadium, Kanpur	21 October 1987	89 (126 balls, 11x4)	West Indies won by 85 runs.
2	India	University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram	25 January 1988	104* (129 balls, 4x4, 4x6)	West Indies won by 9 wickets.
3	Sri Lanka	Berri Oval, Berri	13 March 1992	110 (125 balls, 8x4, 2x6) ; 1-0-3-0	West Indies won by 91 runs.
4	South Africa	Sabina Park, Kingston	7 April 1992	122 (113 balls, 12x4, 5x6) ; 2-0-12-0	West Indies won by 107 runs.
5	South Africa	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain	12 April 1992	DNB ; 104 (139 balls, 10x4, 2x6)	West Indies won by 7 wickets.
6	Australia	WACA Ground, Perth	6 December 1992	10-2-22-2 ; 43* (74 balls, 6x4)	West Indies won by 9 wickets.
7	Pakistan	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	17 December 1992	10 (20 balls, 1x4) ; 10-8-3-4	West Indies won by 133 runs.
8	Sri Lanka	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	28 October 1993	5-0-17-0, 1 Ct. ; 92 (161 balls, 8x4)	West Indies won by 8 wickets.
9	Sri Lanka	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	3 November 1993	4-0-19-1 ; 90* (109 balls, 9x4)	West Indies won by 8 wickets.
10	India	Nahar Singh Stadium, Faridabad	17 October 1994	76 (100 balls, 3x4, 4x6) ; 10-1-38-1, 2 Ct.	West Indies won by 96 runs.
11	Australia	Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown	15 March 1995	7-0-40-1, 2 Ct. ; 86 (110 balls, 12x4, 1x6)	West Indies won by 7 wickets.
12	New Zealand	Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown	6 April 1996	3-0-25-0, 2 Ct. ; 103* (124 balls, 10x4, 2x6)	West Indies won by 7 wickets.

External links

• Phil Simmons at ESPNcricinfo
• Phil Simmons at CricketArchive (subscription required)