Lendl Simmons

Lendl Mark Platter Simmons (born 25 January 1985) is a Trinidadian cricketer who played internationally for the West Indies. He is a right-handed batsman, an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, and a part-time wicket-keeper. His uncle is former West Indian Test cricketer Phil Simmons. In July 2022, Simmons announced his retirement from international cricket.^[1] Simmons was a member of the West Indies team that won both the 2012 T20 World Cup and the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Lendl Simmons

Personal information
Full name	Lendl Mark Platter Simmons
Born	(1985-01-25) 25 January 1985 (age 39) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Top-order batsman
Relations	Phil Simmons (uncle)
International information
National side	West Indies (2006–2021)
Test debut	6 March 2009 v England
ODI debut (cap 132)	7 December 2006 v Pakistan
Last ODI	21 March 2015 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.	54
T20I debut (cap 18)	29 June 2007 v England
Last T20I	26 October 2021 v South Africa
T20I shirt no.	54
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001/02–2020/21	Trinidad and Tobago
2012–2013	Chittagong Kings
2013–2015	Guyana Amazon Warriors
2014–2017	Mumbai Indians
2015/16	Rangpur Riders
2015/16	Brisbane Heat
2015/16–2017/18	Karachi Kings
2016	Saint Kitts and Nevis
2017	Jamaica Tallawahs
2017/18	Rajshahi Kings
2018	St Lucia Zouks
2019–2021	Trinbago Knight Riders
2019/20	Chattogram Challengers
2021/22	Sylhet Sunrisers
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I T20 Matches 8 68 68 292 Runs scored 278 1,958 1,527 7,756 Batting average 17.37 31.58 26.79 29.83 100s/50s 0/0 2/16 0/9 2/59 Top score 49 122 91* 116 Balls bowled 192 156 43 407 Wickets 1 1 6 23 Bowling average 147.00 172.00 12.00 25.95 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/60 1/3 4/19 4/19 Catches/stumpings 5/– 28/– 35/– 116/–
Medal record Men's Cricket Representing  West Indies ICC Men's T20 World Cup Winner 2012 Sri Lanka Winner 2016 India
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 2019 October 2022

Early career

A prominent junior cricketer, he played in both the 2002 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh for the West Indies U-19s. Two years later he made his ODI debut against Pakistan at Faisalabad on 7 December 2006.

Simmons is capable of large scores; with three first class double-centuries to his name, but at the same time he has been prone to inconsistency. His career best of 282, in a first-class match for West Indies A against a touring England XI in January 2009, heralded his Test debut in the final Test of that tour. Simmons scored 24 and 8 as the West Indies secured a series-clinching draw at the Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad.^[2] Simmons was retained for the following West Indian tour of England, but has played no further Tests.

T20 franchise career

Indian Premier League

In April 2014 it was announced that Simmons had been signed by Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians, replacing Jalaj Saxena. This had the aim of improving the team's fortunes, after they had gone without a win in any of their 4 matches prior to his signing. On 22 May 2014, Simmons scored his maiden IPL century helping his team post a 7 wickets win over Kings XI Punjab.^[3]

In August 2014, Simmons was travelling in the USA between games for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League when his bat attracted the attention of US customs officials, who apparently believed that it was being used to smuggle illegal drugs. As a consequence, they drilled several holes into the bat.^[4]

Simmons was selected for Mumbai Indians for play 2014 IPL and 2015 IPL seasons. He opened the batting with Indian Parthiv Patel during the 2015 season due to injury of Aaron Finch, where they became the most dangerous opening pair of the IPL 8 with an average over 50. Simmons played a major role in the team guided to the IPL 8 win by Mumbai Indians. It was their second title in IPL.^[5][6] Simmons was benched for more than half of the 2017 season but later got the opportunity to open after the departure of Jos Buttler for international duty. Mumbai went on to win the 2017 season as well marking their 3rd win.

He however has remained unsold in the IPL auctions since 2018.^[7][8]

Pakistan Super League

In late 2015 at the 2016 PSL Draft Lendl Simmons was bought and played in the first edition of the tournament for the Karachi Kings. Second & Third picked by Karachi Kings and fourth edition picked by Peshawar Zalmi In 2019 at the 2020 PSL Draft picked by Lahore Qalanders.

Other leagues

On 3 June 2018, he was picked to play for the Winnipeg Hawks in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.^[9][10] He was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 321 runs in eight matches.^[11] In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Brampton Wolves franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament.^[12] In July 2020, he was named in the Trinbago Knight Riders squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.^[13][14]

In 2023 he was plays for Bhilwara Kings in Legends League cricket. Before this he had also played for Gujarat Giants.^[15]

International career

Simmons made his Test debut against England on 6 March 2009 and ODI debut against Pakistan on 7 December 2006. He has scored two ODI centuries. Though he is very good at ODI and T20I, Simmons has failed in Test cricket, where his highest score is 49 runs against Pakistan. He scored his maiden century in ODIs by scoring 122 against Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. His second century came in 2015 Cricket World Cup against Ireland in Nelson, New Zealand. In fact, Ireland upset the West Indies by winning that match by 4 wickets.

In March 2017, he was named in the West Indies squad for the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Pakistan.^[16] In September 2021, Simmons was named in the West Indies' squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[17]

References

1. "Lendl Simmons retires from international cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
2. "West Indies v England, 5th Test, 2008/9". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
3. "IPL 7: Lendl Simmons joins Mumbai Indians, replaces Jalaj Saxena". 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014.
4. "Lendl Simmons' bat drilled with holes by US customs officials". BBC. 9 August 2014.
5. "Lendl Simmons - Mumbai Indians player - IPLT20.com".
6. "IPL 2015: Rohit Sharma, Lendl Simmons power Mumbai Indians to 202/5". The Times of India.
7. "IPLT20.com - Indian Premier League Official Website". www.iplt20.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
8. D, Vinay (12 February 2021). "5 popular players who got excluded from IPL Auction 2021". SwagCricket. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
9. "Global T20 Canada: Complete Squads". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
10. "Global T20 Canada League – Full Squads announced". CricTracker. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
11. "Global T20 Canada: Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
12. "Global T20 draft streamed live". Canada Cricket Online. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
13. "Nabi, Lamichhane, Dunk earn big in CPL 2020 draft". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
14. "Teams Selected for Hero CPL 2020". Cricket West Indies. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
15. "LLC 2023: Lendl Simmons' 99 goes in vain as Gujarat Giants beat Bhilwara Kings". Cricket Times. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
16. "Mohammed breaks into West Indies T20I squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
17. "T20 World Cup: Ravi Rampaul back in West Indies squad; Sunil Narine left out". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2021.