shortpitched713
International Captain
The bowling parts are mythologized. He overbowled himself, and he was best as a support bowler (as evidenced by his high strike rate, and low economy rate). He was bog mediocre as a slow left arm orthodox bowler, and shoulder issues prevented him from bowling his preferred slow bowling wrist spin style for a big chunk (probably a third of career).Don't understand what having more of them has anything to do with value.
Harder to maintain a high bowling load while batting in the top order.
Plus, if you're calling Hadlee and Miller bowling all rounders, then no reason Simpson can't be seen as a batting one.
How am I mythologizing his role?
He was a top 5 batsman, and literally the most versatile bowler ever, not to add a top tier slip catcher. He filled every role from opening the bowling to bowling grunt overs into the wind with defensive fields.
His best bowling style, which he used a very large majority of the time was seam up medium fast off a very short run. He was most definitely talented (and I'd hazard quicker and more incisive in the earlier prime part of bowling career), but there are natural limitations to this style.
He did have match-winning hauls of course, and this is to be expected from someone who bowled with his level of frequency and volume. His main role though, was as an eat up overs guy, giving rest to more incisive bowlers like Hall, Griffith, etc, and he did this job manfully to his credit, but in an era where over rates weren't particularly essential either.
This is a more nuanced, and realistic profile of an actual bowler that existed, which is far from the "most versatile bowler ever existed" whitewashing that you, and a lot of would be trivia buffs might do, without digging more in depth.