Born at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey in 1959, Simon Hughes was a right-arm fast medium bowler and right-handed tail end batsman. He represented Middlesex between 1980 and 1991, being capped in 1981 an it was no surprise as a former Durham University student, he joined the new first-class county Durham immediately after his Benefit Year in 1991 in readiness for their first season. His best performances for Middlesex were 7 for 35 versus Surrey at the Oval in 1986 and 53 with the bat versus Cambridge University at Fenner's in 1988. He played for Durham until the end of the 1993 season, since when he has become a full-time sports journalist and television commentator on cricket. His widely acclaimed book on county cricket 'A Lot of Hard Yakka' has been well received in cricketing circles.
