Eric Simmons joins as Assistant coach of Daredevils

New Delhi, March 4: Delhi Daredevils have inducted Eric Simmons, the Indian team’s bowling coach, as the Assistant Coach of the Daredevils ahead of the IPL-3. Simmons, who will be an assistant to Chief Coach Greg Shipperd,  will be joining the squad on Monday, March 8.
“Simmons’ experience will be very valuable to the youngsters in the side and the presence of a specialist bowling coach will help us,” said Amrit Mathur, Chief Operating Officer of the Delhi Daredevils.
“He has worked with the South African team and is currently India 's bowling coach. He was also available during the IPL and that made it an ideal situation for us,” added Mathur.
“I have heard lots about the Daredevils and I have also seen some of them at close quarters while working with the Indian team. It will be a great experience to work during the IPL and I look forward to the experience,” said Simmons, who fellow South Africans, AB De Villiers and Wayne Parnell are already members of the Daredevils.
Simmons, 47, was appointed bowling consultant of the Indian team for the Test series against Bangladesh and the test and ODI series against South Africa.
Simmons, a medium-pace bowler and a handy lower-order batsman, played for Western Province and came into the South African team in 1994 at the age of 32. An all-rounder he bowled fast-medium besides being a powerful middle-order batsman.
In just over a year from 1994 he played 23 ODIs and bowled with a fair degree of success and took 33 wickets.
After retiring he became Western Province's coach and in September 2002 he was appointed as national coach. India coach Gary Kirsten also played under Simmons when the latter was South Africa coach from 2002-04.
His tenure lasted two years until he stepped down in October 2004. In 2010 he was appointed India’s bowling coach.