Cricket.com.au’s new podcast series, Stories After Stumps, looks into the remarkable story of Craig Simmons in the newest episode
It’s a warm Wednesday night in Perth.
Justin Langer picks up the phone, and as he’s done plenty of times over the past fortnight, calls Craig Simmons.
Simmons is at a mate’s house, having a quiet night and over dinner is recounting his first couple of weeks as a Perth Scorchers player.
In the background, a live match between the Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers is playing on the television.
As Simmons picks up the phone, his coach Langer is about to deliver some devastating, but not unexpected news.
Simmons isn’t going to be selected for tomorrow night’s match against the Adelaide Strikers.
With scores of nine, eight and a second-ball duck to his name, Simmons is out of runs and out of time.
“I’m ringing Craig Simmons to tell him he’s not playing the next day,” Langer recalls on the new episode of Stories After Stumps.
“And as we’re there, I say, are you watching this cricket?”
Hobart’s left-handed opener Ben Dunk, who was enjoying a breakout season, caught Langer’s eye.
“He said, ‘turn on the Big Bash on and watch Ben Dunk bat’,” Simmons recalls.
“‘That’s what you should be doing. Look how still he is.’
“So I started watching and maybe that was a bit of a moment there, I watched him, what he was doing, and I took a bit on board.’
Langer remembers the call clearly.
“I said, mate, Simmo, that’s what we want from you.
“Just let go and have a crack.
“And he said, ‘coach, I’ve just been a bit nervous. Just give me one more crack at it and I promise you it’ll come good’.
“I’d literally rang him to tell him he was dropped.
“I went to the ground the next day and I said to the other selectors or coaches, I’ve been thinking of giving Simmo one more crack.
“And they’re looking at me, probably thinking, you’re soft mate. You couldn’t make the big call.
“And then, guess what happened? Wow.”
A few hours later, Langer’s backflip was justified.
Simmons had re-written the record books with a 39-ball century against the Strikers, easily the fastest in the competition’s history and a benchmark that still stands over a decade later.
‘King of the Bash’ is the second in a six-episode first season of Stories After Stumps. You can listen to it here, and stay tuned for more episodes dropping fortnightly.