The Simpsons

PL on the unveiling of a tribute to one of Australian cricket's most influential figures

Neil Davidson was 10 years old when Bob Simpson drove him and his father, Alan, to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the first day of the third Ashes Test against England in January 1963. It was a Friday, England had won the second Test to take a one-nil series lead, and the men were conspiring in the front seats while the boy listened quietly from the back.

“I listened quietly while they talked about the upcoming day’s play,” the son of the legendary all-rounder told a small crowd at Marrickville Oval on Sunday morning. “Whatever they talked about certainly worked,” he added. By the end of that day, ‘Simmo’ and ‘Davo’ had taken seven wickets between them. By the end of the innings they had nine.

Simpson then posted 91 and 34no in the match, which Australia won.

Davidson’s son was invited by the Simpson family to speak at the unveiling of a memorial to the player, coach, and Marrickville resident who was born nearby and who developed his sporting prowess on the muddy sports grounds reclaimed from the Gumbramorra flood plains along the Cooks River.