Craig Simmons’ summer of BBL brilliance for Perth Scorchers remembered 10 years on

Craig Simmons became an overnight sensation when he blasted the Big Bash League’s fastest hundred. A decade later, his record still stands. He speaks to TIM MICHELL about the breakout summer he worked 10 years for.

Craig Simmons dominated the BBL summer of 2013-14.

Craig Simmons was the overnight sensation more than a decade in the making.

Most cricket fans know the burly West Australian opener as the holder of the Big Bash League’s fastest hundred – a 39-ball salvo which has stood the test of time for almost 10 years.

Simmons made his debut for Western Australia in 2003, traversed the country to play for New South Wales and returned to finish his first-class career in his home state.

That was March, 2012, when Simmons batted at No. 6 and skittled for a golden duck on his last Shield appearance.

If only he had known what was to come.

Less than two years later, Simmons became an instant cult hero when he clubbed a 39-ball ton against Adelaide Strikers, writing himself into the history books of Australian cricket.

“It felt like I moved from 30 to 100 so quickly, Simmons recalls.

“I remember sort of scratching it out for the first bit. After that, it just happened so quickly.

“All of a sudden I’m back in the shed and all the boys are carrying on. It didn’t really sink in and I didn’t even know the record, (which I) think was 44 balls or something before that or 45 balls. I didn’t even know I was close.

“There was no awareness. I just felt like I was hitting every ball out of the centre and just kept going.”

Craig Simmons became a cult hero in the Big Bash league. Picture: Mark Evans

Simmons was at a stage of his life where he had accepted his professional career was coming to an end.

He was turning out for his beloved Rockingham-Mandurah, where he remains a coach and occasional Second XI player, when then Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer made contact before the third BBL tournament.

“JL just sort of reached out and he said, ‘are you interested in having a crack?’ I remember going down and playing a bit of an intrasquad trial game,” he said.

“Didn’t do very well. I got about 10. So I thought, ‘oh shit, I’ve had a crack. No good. Whatever’.

“Then Liam Davis got ruled out with a broken finger and the international Dwayne Smith who was supposed to open the batting, he pulled out at the very last moment.

“It all just lined up and I got pretty lucky. Even for the fact that I had to wear his clothes because there were no clothes left.

“I was rocking the No. 50 because that was his gear.”

Simmons during his matchwinning hundred in the semi-final against the Sixers. Picture: Mark Evans

Simmons had scores of 9 (15 balls), 8 (10) and 0 (2) heading into the Strikers match at the WACA.

His domestic renaissance was in danger of being over less than a month after it had started.

“It was definitely my last chance. Even entering the game I thought, ‘this is probably going to be it’, Simmons said.

“I’d had a pretty good run with cricket since I was 18, I was contracted, rookie contracts with WA and New South Wales and whatever. “Going out there it was my last hurrah.

“Things just sort of went well and it kicked off again.

“It was a pretty weird time … because it was probably my chance to get a bit back out of cricket.”

Tim Ludeman – who would become Simmons’ opening partner at Adelaide Strikers – was behind the stumps on the evening he launched his record-breaking onslaught.

“It was one of those things where everything he touched just seemed to turn to gold,” Ludeman said.

“He was hitting the ball clean and I know batting with him a fair bit at the Strikers in the end, he’s a big fan of once you get on a roll, keep going with it.

“Don’t change your approach or change your methods. Keep running with it.

“Obviously that night he started off fast, just kept running with it and chanced his arm and it obviously came off because he hit them bloody well.”

Tim Ludeman and Craig Simmons in the middle for Adelaide. Picture: Sarah Reed

Simmons has revealed more incredible layers to the story of his fastest hundred in the decade since.

He worked in the morning for Western Power, stopped for a chicken roll, large chips and 600ml Coke on the way to the ground and then a few hours later became part of Aussie sporting folklore.

“That night was amazing. I still remember hitting that six to bring up the hundred, I was looking around and the whole crowd was on their feet yelling and screaming,” he said.

It will be a decade since Simmons’ innings on January 16, 2024.

How do we feel about this vision of Craig Simmons bowling left arm tweakers in a cap, complimented by a caught & bowled screamer?

The former @BBL cult figure is still running around in @WAPremCricket! 🙌 @Frogboxlivepic.twitter.com/VpYor2608e

— PlayCricket AU (@PlayCricketAU) October 6, 2020

Chris Lynn came closest to breaking the record in 2019, falling metres short of hitting a six which would have taken him to a 35-ball century.

Simmons joked after that knock that he was ready to come out of retirement if Lynn snatched his claim to fame.

Most cricket fans know Simmons for that brutal innings against the Strikers.

But it was only 20 days later he produced the hundred he regards as the best of his career.

Facing arguably the best attack assembled in BBL history – Brett Lee, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and Trent Copeland, Simmons blasted 11 sixes before he was run out for 112 off 58 balls.

Craig Simmons still holds the record for the fastest BBL hundred. Picture: Mark Evans

“It was doing a fair bit early,” Simmons said.

“From memory I think I was six off about 15 balls or something.

“I was batting with Simon Katich and he was going out there and just hitting balls on the up through cover for four and looked really good.

“I was thinking, ‘jeez, this is hard’.

“I got through that tough period and it got a bit easier.”

Enjoy this candid vision of former @BBL cult hero Craig Simmons taking NINE wickets for Rockingham Mandurah in @WAPremCricket!

The tweaker finished with match figures of 9/62! pic.twitter.com/sGU0BwHCje

— PlayCricket AU (@PlayCricketAU) March 2, 2021

Copeland recalls: “He was in ridiculous touch. We always knew that he had that in him at the lower levels, domestic competitions.

“But to do it in that realm with that sort of dominance, and he never to my recollection had been an overly big six hitter.

“He was classy off-side prowess, along the ground, in the more traditional upbringings.

“But for that season, he just went to another level with six hitting. He took apart some bloody good teams.”

Lee added: “You think about (Brendon) McCullum, the first game of the Indian Premier League, got his 140 or 150, whatever the score was.

“That set the tone as to ‘this is here to stay’. I think Craig Simmons did that with that hundred off 41 balls against the Strikers in Big Bash.

Simmons dives for a run. Picture: Theron Kirkman

“I remember he hit one over towards the scoreboard area and over the nets. A massive hit. I thought ‘wow, this bloke can play’.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing against him because of the tenacity that he shows in his batting, but he’s a great guy off the field. That goes a long way in sport.

“If someone has got a way to knuckle down and score runs, take on the bowlers, but then off the field he’s the first guy to go and shake your hand. Every time I speak about Craig Simmons it’s always praise and how much of a nice bloke he is. But jeez he could play.”

Copeland agrees that Simmons define everything that is great about the BBL.

“That’s what the essence of the BBL is. He was really the first story of what this competition is built for,” he said.

“It’s to provide a platform, an ultimate pathway.

“This was the beginning of the new era of cricket, essentially.

“He wasn’t an established long-format WA player at the time, or New South Wales. But he had come in and really dominated.”

It was the Craig Simmons Show in BBL|03 as he whacked the only two 💯s of the season!

100 days to go until #BBL08... pic.twitter.com/MFXHT5tKgL

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) September 10, 2018

The drama had only just started at the SCG on a night Simmons believes has been the catalyst for a decade of success for the Scorchers and WA cricket.

Perth posted 5-193 as it chased a berth in the BBL final and its maiden title.

Then Sydney’s fickle weather threatened to intervene.

The Scorchers had finished third on the table, one spot behind the Sixers.

“I think we were down to like the last two minutes, if we didn’t get back on the field then it was all over,” Simmons said.

“We were all pretty much resigned to the fact that, ‘jeez, we’ve done so well here yet we’re going to getting kicked out.

“WA hadn’t had that much success in any form for a fairly long time, so it was a bit of a watershed moment for the group.”

The Sixers finished 6-48 chasing a Duckworth-Lewis total of 54 from five overs – the minimum required to constitute a game.

“I don’t reckon they’d won anything since about 2005,” Simmons said.

“That’s nothing. No Shields, one-dayers or anything. It was a really lean time.

“The group had been through a lot of coaches. That was the making a bit of the squad under Justin Langer, that got them going.”

Gee the messages come flooding in every time someone gets close to beating the fastest 100 , on reflection if I had a 10 over drinks break like the guys do these days i would of scored 200 . Was cooked and regurgitating chicken roll every time I had to run for Sam whiteys shanks

— craig simmons (@craigsimmons13) December 31, 2022

Not a bad nock by lynny thought I may have to come out if retirement if that last one cleared the rope @7Cricket

— craig simmons (@craigsimmons13) December 22, 2019

The Strikers came calling with a three-year contract at the end of the summer.

For a cricketer with a young family who had lived much of his career on the fringes, it was too good to refuse.

“It was a pretty tough time because I really enjoyed Perth and playing with the guys,” he said.

“For where I was at in life and what I felt like I’d given to cricket, the financial decision, it was pretty easy.

“It worked out to something like six times more, the contract offer from Strikers to the Scorchers. It was something you couldn’t really compare.”

Incredibly, Simmons’ BBL career was over 13 matches later.

He featured nine times in his first season as a Striker and four in the next season.

The night Travis Head scored arguably the BBL’s second most famous ton – New Year’s Eve, 2015 – was the last time Simmons played as a Striker.

“I think South Australia wanted to get more of a South Australian blend to their team so they were backing their own in,” Simmons said.

“That’s the sort of direction they went. It was a bit of a weird way for it all to finish.

“The second year, I didn’t even come back after Christmas. I just stayed back in Perth.”

Simmons said he was prepared to fight for his spot entering the third and final year of his deal but was told he was not required.

“Still got fully paid and everything like that. I was happy to go over there,” he said.

“I was still keen on hitting balls, working hard, doing whatever. In their mind it was over. So I was like, ‘that’s fine, I’ll just stay at home and if you do need me I’m here’.”

The disappointment of Simmons’ BBL career coming to an abrupt end was offset by Rockingham-Mandurah’s maiden First XI title in the early months of 2016.

“We have only been in the comp in 25 years in First Grade so that was a pretty big moment for the club,” Simmons said.

“Still involved there now, still playing a little bit of second grade and coaching. I’m still heavily involved in the club and will be for as long as I can imagine.”

In 2021, Simmons wound the clock back with 176 from 198 balls batting at No. 9 after the Mariners had been reduced to 7-73.

It wasn’t an innings that created the international headlines his BBL blitz did, but was arguably the most heroic of Simmons’ long career.

“In all honesty, in the last five years I reckon I’ve had about four net sessions. That was a real shock,” he said.

Simmons’ phone runs hot every November in the weeks before the new Big Bash League season.

From journalists to clubmates and family and friends, there are few discussions which don’t turn to the night his career changed forever.

A decade on, Simmons has learned to embrace the attention.

“It was funny. Literally everyone just thought, ‘how do you go from the First Grade cricket to do that?’ 99 per cent of the people don’t know the story, don’t know the sort of journey I’d been on,” he said.

“But I just embraced it. I think that’s the best way to do it. There’s no point trying to explain to every single person, ‘I have been playing cricket since I was 18. I’ve done all this’.

“Sometimes it’s, ‘yeah, how great is it?’ It gave everyone a bit of a lift and I think that’s what was great about BBL as well, a few people could come in and tell their stories.

“Hopefully that can continue to happen because that’s what makes it appealing to the public.”

Originally published as Craig Simmons’ summer of BBL brilliance for Perth Scorchers remembered 10 years on