Philip Veraint Simmons, popularly known as Phil Simmons was an important part of the West Indies cricket team for a long time. Born on April 18, 1963 in Trinidad, this skilled all-rounder played as an opening batsman a useful bowler and a talented slip fielder for the Carrebean side. He played cricket for a number of First-class sides in the West Indies and England as well as international cricket for the West Indian cricket team and was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.

Simmons had an outstanding career in First-class cricket with an average of 35.61 with the bat and 28.68 with the ball. In the 1996

season, he accumulated 1244 runs and took 56 wickets and 35 catches with Leicestershire, helping his side to win the County Championship of the year for only the second time in their history. But like many cricketers before him, Simmons found the transition to Test level difficult, even though he proved more adept to at the international one day game.

His international career failed to get off to the most auspicious start. Simmons in his debut match against Gloucestershire in 1988 was struck on the head by a fast ball from David Lawrence in bad light at Bristol. His heart stopped functioning and had to undergo emergency surgery at Frenchay hospital, from which he recovered fully.

Simmons retired from international cricket in 2002 but continued to be involved in the sport as a coach. His was appointed as the head coach to the Zimbabwe cricket team in 2004. But this was a hard job due to the mass dismissal of most of the senior players. He found himself having to defend the Test status of his country after an appalling losing streak, including a loss to Bangladesh who were widely seen as the worst Test side in the world. Simmons was sacked under farcical conditions in August 2005. Simmons succeeded Adrian Birrell as coach of the Ireland National Cricket Team after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.

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When the Australian batsman Matthew Hayden says farewell to international cricket, a list of records are safe in his kitty. He batted for just six matches in the first six years of his career. His inauspicious debut was in 1994 in South Africa. The left-hander then went on a record-breaking spree in the next eight years.

Hayden physically towered over his opponents. Thanks to the hugely build batsman’s statistics.

After an unforgettable debut, Hayden became a regular member of the Test team in

2001. He outshined others with his massive 549 at an average of 109.80 against India.

In the next summer, he hit tons in four consecutive Tests against South Africa, and narrowly missed making it five, before going back to pavilion for 96 in Cape Town.

Within the span of 12 months, he scored an impressive1,509 Test runs at 71.85. He was awarded the Allan Border Medal in Feb 2002. His tally of 1,391 Test runs in the 2001 calendar year was an Australian. Hayden was named as the Wisden cricketer of the year in 2003. Hayden scored highest individual innings in Test history next year. He knocked 380 against Zimbabwe by breaking the record of 375 made by Brian Lara. But later Brian Lara posted the first quadruple-century in Test history. In 2005, he again made four centuries in four Tests against England, the West Indies (and the World XI).

Hayden hammered the highest ODI score by an Australian when he scored an unbeaten 181 against New Zealand. The big left-hander also made an impressive performance at the 2007 World Cup, when Australia defended its crown. He scored 659 runs at 73.22. He scored the fastest century in World Cup history (66 balls) and became the third person to score three centuries in a single World Cup.

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