Last Saturday, cricket lost one of its most tireless servants — Bob Simpson. Bobby to friends and contemporaries, Simmo mostly to those he coached.

Trust Steve Waugh to give in to profundity. “No one gave more to Australian cricket than Bob Simpson — coach, player, commentator, writer, selector, mentor, and journalist,” said Waugh in tribute to his former coach recently.

Simpson thought the world of Waugh. During a visit to Mumbai in 1996, a few months after his stint as coach of Australia ended, Simpson told me in an interview that he thought Waugh was the best batsman in the world at the time: “Steve Waugh has been the best run-maker against everyone and in all countries over the last three seasons.  He did not get the publicity as Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara did, but if you are putting your whole fortune on it, I bet you want to have Steve Waugh batting for you.”