Famous Cricketers No 50 - Reg Simpson

245. Nottinghamshire v Somerset, Weston-super-Mare, August 12, 13 (Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 50 runs) c and b J.Lawrence 52 252 94 108 246. Nottinghamshire v Essex, Southend-on-Sea, August 15, 17, 18 (Nottinghamshire won by 37 runs) b R.Smith 0 233 178 c A.V.Avery b J.A.Bailey 49 127 145 247. Nottinghamshire v Sussex, Eastbourne, August 19, 20, 21 (Sussex won by three wickets) c D.J.Wood b R.G.Marlar 58 252 254-7d 1 c R.T.Webb b R.G.Marlar 28 101 103-7 248. Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire, Trent Bridge, August 22, 24, 25 (Nottinghamshire won by ten wickets) lbw b V.E.Jackson 73 263-7d 92 1 not out 33 46-0 216 249. Gentlemen of England v Australians, Lord’s, August 26, 27, 28 (Australians won by eight wickets) lbw b R.R.Lindwall 5 157 154 c G.R.A.Langley b K.R.Miller5 249 253-2 250. Nottinghamshire v Somerset, Trent Bridge, August 29, 31, September 1 (Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 67 runs) c M.Walker b B.A.Langford 64 266-7d 117 82 251. M.C.C. v Yorkshire, Scarborough, September 2, 3, 4 (Match drawn) b C.W.Foord 101 362 391-4d b C.W.Foord 35 255-6d 184-7 1 252. Gentlemen v Players, Scarborough, September 5, 7, 8 (Gentlemen won by five wickets) c L.Hutton b R.Smith 4 447-8d 532-5d b D.J.Shepherd 44 252-5 165-6d 253. T.N.Pearce’s XI v Australians, Scarborough, September 9, 10, 11 (Australians won by two wickets) c I.D.Craig b W.A.Johnston 86 320 317 c I.D.Craig b W.A.Johnston 12 316-8d 325-8 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 3 5 1 74 31 18.50 - - 1 Gentlemen v Players 2 4 0 191 117 47.75 1 - - Championship 20 36 4 1815 157 56.71 5 10 13 Other Notts matches 2 3 0 88 65 29.33 - 1 2 Other matches 6 12 0 337 101 28.08 1 2 2 Season 33 60 5 2505 157 45.54 7 13 18 Career 253 428 33 17651 259 44.68 44 87 105 Bowling O M R W BB Ave Championship 16 1 45 1 1/10 45.00 Other Notts matches 4 0 10 0 - - Season (6-ball) 20 1 55 1 1/10 55.00 Career (6-ball) 722.3 218 1995 53 3/22 37.64 1953/54 Commonwealth Team in India Reg Simpson renewed his acquaintance with Indian grounds in the winter of 1953/54, touring India with a Commonwealth Team and playing in nine matches there including three “Unofficial Tests”. He headed the averages for the tour and, at times, batted quite brilliantly. In his first innings of the tour he his a century before lunch against Holkar at Indore. He hit two fifties in the first “Unofficial Test”, defying the Indian spinners as the Commonwealth XI were dismissed for 198 and 174. In the second “Test” he made 121 in just under four hours with one six and twelve fours, and in the next match, against an Indian XI at Nagpur, he hit 97 sharing with Frank Worrell in a stand of 166 for the third wicket with the last 122 of these coming in the last hour before lunch on the first day. He returned to England after the third “Unofficial Test”. Wisden comments that “The Nottinghamshire amateur batted splendidly during his all-too-brief sojourn with the team”. He had not done enough, though, to 25