Craig Joseph Simmons (born 1 December 1982) is an Australian former professional cricketer. He played domestically for Western Australia, New South Wales, Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers. At grade cricket level, he plays for Rockingham-Mandurah in the WACA district competition, having previously played for Fremantle in WACA district matches and Gordon in Sydney Grade Cricket matches.[1] A left-handed batsman, Simmons represented the Australian national under-19 side at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, playing seven matches.[2] At the tournament, he scored 155 runs from 115 balls against Kenya's under-19 team, contributing to Australia's total of 6/480 from 50 overs and eventual win by 430 runs.[3]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Craig Joseph Simmons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1982-12-01) 1 December 1982 (age 39) Paddington, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Simmo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003/04–2004/05 | Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005/06–2006/07 | New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008/09–2014/15 | Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013/14–2014/15 | Perth Scorchers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014/15–2015/16 | Adelaide Strikers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 19 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simmons made his first-class debut for Western Australia in December 2003, against Victoria at the WACA Ground in Perth.[4] He transferred to New South Wales for the 2005–06 season, and regularly played ING Cup matches, as well as top-scoring for New South Wales in the final of the inaugural KFC Twenty20 Big Bash season, which the team lost to Victoria.[5] Playing only twice at state level the following season, Simmons' Cricket NSW contract was not renewed for the 2007–08 season, and he subsequently returned to Western Australia,[6] breaking into the side for a small number of games during the 2008–09 and 2011–12 seasons.[7]
After good form for Rockingham-Mandurah at district level, Simmons replaced the injured Liam Davis in the Perth Scorchers' squad for the 2013–14 Big Bash League season.[8] In his fourth game for the Scorchers, against the Adelaide Strikers in mid-January 2014, Simmons scored a century from 39 balls, breaking the record for the fastest Big Bash League century.[9] He was dismissed shortly after, finishing with 102 runs from 41 balls, with his innings including eight fours and eight sixes.[10] In the team's semi-final against the Sydney Sixers, Simmons scored another century, 112 runs from 58 balls.[11] He thus became the first player to score two centuries in Big Bash League matches,[12] and also equalled Chris Gayle's competition record of eleven sixes in a match.[13] As of that match, he has a strike rate of 176.51 runs per 100 balls, the best of any player who has faced over 125 balls in the competition.[14] He subsequently signed for the Adelaide Strikers for the 2014-15 and the 2015-16 BBL seasons.