Simi Singh: 'Being from an Asian background doesn't help'
Irish international opens up on race, culture, selection frustration and his career successes now his Ireland contract has elapsed
Wednesday marks the start of the interpro season but the end of a significant career. As the Leinster Lightning and Munster Reds kick off the year with strong, international-laden squads, one big name wonât be present: Simi Singh.
The Ireland international has been a fixture in the Leinster squad since 2017 but, ahead of the coming season, the 37-year-old spinner has called time on his Lightning career. Given his Ireland contract expired in February and was not renewed, it would appear that his international days are done as well.
"They [Leinster] wanted me to play but I was up front like I am with everyone else,â explains Singh. âIf I see thereâs no opportunity to get picked for Ireland, I donât see the point of taking up a spot. Iâd rather let someone else, a young guy play.â
Singh last played for Ireland against Sri Lanka in the 2022 T20 World Cup. For over a year since, he has trained while on a coveted central contract but did not earn a recall. Given the state of flux of Irelandâs spin attack in the intervening period, both in terms of personnel and performance, many have queried Singhâs absence, including the player himself.
With his international career seemingly finished, he cuts a frustrated figure: âI always felt like I was a soft target whenever I was dropped.â
Frustration is an occupational hazard of all athletic careers which are frighteningly short compared to jobs in the real world. Yet for Singh, plenty of that frustration felt unjustified. He believes he was unfairly disadvantaged when he first came on Irelandâs radar.
âOne of the selectors said to me that being from an Asian background doesnât help,â he says. âThat shouldnât be the case but it is. Itâs a cultural thing, I donât know why it is.â
Singh doesnât use that disturbing comment as evidence of racist selection policies or any direct discrimination within Irish cricket more generally. Instead, he focuses on that culture issue, one which starts at grassroots level and effects the flow of talent up the pathways.
âYou can see now, thereâs not many Asian players coming into the team,â says Singh. âThereâs a big Asian population in Ireland. Iâm not saying itâs a discrimination thing, it could be just communication, even in the clubs, if people arenât that well connected, people donât stay for pints after the game, they donât mix that well in the culture. Something needs to be done there.
âI speak to a lot of parents from the Asian community, they have these concerns about their children. âWe donât get to talk to the coaches enough, there isnât clear communicationâ, that needs to be addressed as well. It will happen, but giving Englandâs example, these things happened earlier because immigration was there earlier, but now look at their numbers, three or four players in their squad [are Asian]. Thatâs gonna happen here.â
Singh still plays with North County Cricket Club and is coaching at Knockharley CC. Now out of the Irish set-up, he wants to use his role in the club game to address this issue which is close to his heart.
âThatâs where Iâm now involved in the club structure as well trying to use my experience to get engaged in that as well. I would like to see more different backgrounds getting involved.â
That selector comment came towards the start of his international career. In the six years after his debut, Singh amassed 88 caps, 83 wickets, a spot in the 2021 ICC ODI team of the year, appearances at a T20 World Cup and even an international century. All things considered, he had a good run.
Years later, the beginning of the end of Singhâs fortune came in June 2022. He was a surprise omission from the squad to play India in a pair of T20s at Malahide. Under previous head coach Graham Ford and David Ripley, who was interim coach when Ireland had a successful T20 World Cup qualifying tournament in early 2022, then-captain Andrew Balbirnie frequently picked two off-spinners in his XI: Singh and Andy McBrine.
With new head coach Heinrich Malan in situ, Ireland changed tack against India in favour of a more balanced spin attack. Gareth Delanyâs leg-spin began to see more game time, culminating in a successful World Cup run. Since then, Ben White, another leg-spinner, has established himself as Irelandâs main T20 twirler. Across the world, off-spinners are no longer in vogue in the shortest format, something which counted against Singh. The trend ultimately came for McBrine as well who, after a number of difficult outings that summer, has not played a T20I since August 2022.
The feedback given to Singh at the time centred on that desire to move away from picking two off-spinners. Age was also a likely factor alongside the need to develop young leg-spinners and left-armers. It was put to Singh that he was a victim of circumstance, rather than poor form.
âWhy fix something thatâs not broken?â he says. âThe formula [he and McBrine in the same team] was working because we were both doing different roles.
âI donât like the fact they compare me and Scra [McBrine]. Yes, we do have similar skills, but we are different players. I donât think itâs fair to me or him to be compared to each other.
âIf you go back a few months the big tournament was the World Cup qualifiers in Oman. Me and Scra, we were the standout performers, especially in the Oman game which was one of the highest pressure games.
âI was bowling leg-spin, carrom balls and off-spin. We were basically doing two different jobs, I was bowling more in the powerplay and at the death.â
What of the age concern, given he was in his mid-thirties at the time?
âIf you look around the world with spinners playing in all the different T20 leagues, some of the guys are 40+ and theyâre still going. Iâm 37 now, I felt I still have a good couple of years, or even more, especially with the shorter format of the game.
âItâs just being dropped from the team, that was heartbreaking for me. At the time I was one of the top contracted players as well, and my contract was just renewed. They were obviously rating me higher and to get dropped within a couple of months without any games, I donât think it was a performance thing, which was, for me, harder to take.
âI couldnât figure it out. Iâve heard the off-spinner thing but they couldnât explain it that well. When I showed them the stats they couldnât clarify it.
âIf I remember correctly, my economy in T20 was under seven (7.61), bowling in the powerplay and the death as well. ODIs, I think my career economy is under four (3.99). They said âLook, we look at you as a containing bowler, not a wicket-taking bowlerâ, but I was the highest wicket-taking bowler as a spinner in 2021 in the world in ODI cricket, so that didnât make sense either.â
Singh was back in the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand shortly after India. Ireland were more comfortable with fielding two off-spinners in 50-over cricket. Alongside McBrine, he played in two of the three games.
Singh didnât shoot the lights out, but he was by no means poor. He found himself out of the team for the third match, replaced by Gareth Delany. McBrine kept his place. In all likelihood, he was harder to drop given he was in the middle of an experiment which saw him batting at number three.
Singh hasnât played an ODI since and the omission still sits uneasily.
âI was told âWeâre just going for a leg-spinner,â but why was I the one who was always getting dropped? Why not someone else? It felt personal to me and I still havenât got the clarity⌠the year before averaging almost 50 (47) with the bat and being the highest wicket taker, ICC team of the year, and then not being good enough and being dropped? That didnât make sense to me, that was really discouraging as a player.â
Singh did, however, get back into the team at the end of the 2022 summer. As McBrine struggled with the ball in T20, the two swapped places for the back end of a series against Afghanistan and, then, the World Cup itself. His last Ireland game came against Sri Lanka at that tournament before being replaced by Fionn Hand for the remainder of the campaign.
For all the frustration, Singhâs journey is a success story. He came to Ireland aged 18 and made his international debut after he turned 30. Off the pitch, he settled well in his new home. He has been married for five years while his son turns three this summer.
On the pitch, a number of memories stand out. High on the list is the century against South Africa in 2021. That knock saw Singh become the first number eight to score a hundred in an ODI, and it remains the joint highest score by a player in that position.
âWhen I got to the 90s I was like, âShit, I could get a ton here,ââ he laughs. âI was nervous. Adrenaline started kicking in. I said to Youngy [Craig Young], âJust donât get out.â It was a great day, I always dreamt about that from childhood to score an international hundred. At times I doubted if it would happen.
âLooking back, itâs gone by so quick but it was the right decision,â he says of his move to Ireland. âLook, not many people get to play international cricket. The thing Iâm proud of is, Iâm an only child and back home I was looked after really well. I didnât have to work or do anything, everything was there for me.
âTo come over here and do everything by myself, I turned into a man quickly. To organise everything from accommodation, work, going through all the different stages, it was hard times as well. I was coaching in the winter outside in YM [YMCA Cricket Club], coaching to survive. Iâve coached on Christmas Eve in the snow.
"[When I first arrived], I went to Malahide CC, I left a note. Like any other guy, âIâm 18, I played at a good level in India.â They got in touch, I had a meeting before the season and I said I want to play for Ireland, as an 18-year-old.
âI remember looking out at the ground from the clubhouse in Malahide. Ironically I made my [international] debut at the same ground, I played for 10 years at the same ground, scored my first international hundred, it was destiny to end up at Malahide and go through the journey.
âI really appreciate Ireland as a country, the Irish cricket board for picking me, [former head coach] John Bracewell. Alan Lewis, he supported me a lot through the years playing for YM, [there are] a lot of people, I canât name them all. Bracewell was the first to trust me, picking me from club cricket and putting me on the international stage. Graham Ford, he was a huge influence on my career, he had trust in me, he encouraged me to bowl leg spin. [Former assistant coaches] Rob Cassell, Nathan Hauritz, all these guys.â
What next?
âIâm quite enjoying the coaching,â he says. âIâm doing some online stuff, Iâm being approached from people all over the world. I had an online session with guys in the UK, Germany, America, I see a huge demand for that. I love helping out people like that.â
As for his career, Singh acknowledges itâs easy to look at a frustrating final two years and get bogged down in negativity. He spent much of that time tinkering with his bowling, turning to leg-spin, googlies and other variations. Some believed he became a jack of all trades, master of none. Singh ultimately thinks the change was evidence of the character that took him to international cricket.
âAs long as I was performing for the team, performing well, I didnât care what people said. I was doing the right thing. It might not have looked right to some people but I got to where I got believing in myself and doing it my way.â