Former Australian cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died aged 89, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praising the all-rounder for his "extraordinary service" to the sport.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cricket Australia confirmed his death in Sydney in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Simpson played 62 Test matches, captaining Australia in 39, at an average of 46.81.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He grew up in Sydney and first toured with Australia in 1957, becoming one of the best all-round cricketers to play for the country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It took until his 30th Test for Simpson to break his first century -- achieving 311 runs at Old Trafford in 1964.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He retired after the 1967 series, but made a comeback a decade later, aged 41, during the World Series Cricket era.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Albanese said Saturday that Simpson's "extraordinary service to Australian cricket spanned generations".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"As a player, captain and then era-defining coach, he set the highest of standards for himself and the champions he led," the prime minister wrote on social media.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He will be long remembered by the game he loved."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said Simpson was a "mainstay of a very strong Australian team in the 1960s, and he became a leader across the game as Australian and New South Wales captain and as a coach".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Bob's decision to come out of retirement to successfully lead the Australian team during the advent of World Series Cricket in 1977 was a wonderful service to the game, and his coaching set the foundation for a golden generation for Australian cricket," Baird said in a statement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Simpson became Australia's first full-time coach in the 1980s, leading the team's re-emergence and overseeing several top players, including Shane Warne.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Simpson was inducted in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He achieved 21,029 runs at an average of 56.22 in first-class cricket, hit 60 centuries and took 349 wickets at an average of 38.07, according to the Sports Australia Hall of Fame.
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