Middlesex County Cricket Club and their principal sponsor, Brooks Macdonald, have named 26 year old wicket-keeper batsman, John Simpson, as the recipient of the Player of the Month award for June 2015.
Simpson has had an outstanding month with the bat, which has seen him in explosive form for Middlesex in the NatWest T20 Blast, twice beating his career highest score in the short format of the game. He has also hit two crucial innings in red ball cricket, in Division One of the LV= County Championship, one which helped Middlesex earn a hard fought draw against Worcestershire at Uxbridge, and the other, against Hampshire, helped Middlesex secure victory at Lord’s.
In what has been a difficult month for Middlesex in the NatWest T20 Blast, Simpson, batting higher up the order, has been the only real shining light, hitting 255 runs in five matches, at an average of 85 and at a strike rate of 158.38.
The best of Simpson’s T20 Blast innings have come at Middlesex’s outground matches in June, firstly at Richmond, when he surpassed his previous career high of 60 not out, to hit a quick-fire 74 off just 49 balls against Gloucestershire, and then again at Uxbridge, when he smashed another new career high of 84 not out, against Somerset, off just 51 balls.
In the LV= County Championship, with Middlesex struggling on 102 for 5, Simpson’s vital innings of 41, in a sixth wicket partnership of 170 with James Franklin, helped his side recover to post a total of 309 against Worcestershire at Uxbridge. Again against Hampshire at Lord’s, Simpson’s knock of 64 came with his side in trouble on 113 for 5, featuring in a 111 run sixth wicket partnership with Nick Compton, which ultimately saw Middlesex post a match winning total of 330 in a low scoring game.
Simpson also took another 11 catches in June, taking his tally to 29 for the season
On receiving the club’s Player of the Month Award, John Simpson commented...
“I’m delighted to have been named as this month’s Brooks Macdonald Player of the Month. I’ve really enjoyed the new role I’ve been given in the T20 side, batting higher up the order, as I find that I’ve now got time to play my natural game, play my shots, and build an innings from the front.”
Brooks Macdonald’s CEO, Chris Macdonald, presented John Simpson with a magnum of champagne and a cheque for £1000 during the interval of tonight’s NatWest T20 Blast match at Lord’s against Sussex.
