After the game, Benaud injured himself in a grade match so Simpson captained NSW for the first time and scored 135 against Victoria. A few days later in the Second Test at Melbourne, with Benaud still absent, Simpson led Australia for the first time. Simpson's appointment to the top job raised eyebrows in some quarters, as he had a reputation for being abrasive, and others had been more successful and experienced at domestic level. Lawry had led Victoria to the Sheffield Shield in 1962–63 and Western Australia's Barry Shepherd had also been praised for his aggressive and bold leadership. At the time Simpson had scored only 1246 runs at 32.78 and taken 22 wickets at 39.40 in 23 Tests and had not scored a century. Simpson was leading an inexperienced team with Benaud, Harvey and Davidson all gone; only Wally Grout and himself remained from the Tied Test team three years earlier. He scored a duck and 55 not out, being at the crease as Australia scored the winning runs to take a 1–0 lead in the series. Benaud then informed the Board of Control that he would be retiring at season's end, so it was arranged for Benaud to return to the team and play under Simpson to give the latter experience for the forthcoming tour of England. Australia lost the Fourth Test heavily by ten wickets, the other two matches were drawn, and the series finished 1–1. Simpson scored half-centuries in both the Third and Fourth Tests and ended the series with 361 runs at 40.11 average. His combination with Lawry consistently propelled Australia to solid starts, posting at least 50 in each of their opening stands. However, he continued to be plagued by an inability to convert his starts into large scores at the highest level of competition. He passed 25 in 8 of his 10 innings for the series, but could only manage three fifties. As a captain, Simpson was less willing to bowl, taking only two wickets for the Test series, and only four wickets in seven first-class matches since taking up the top job. Despite his heavy scoring at first-class level, Simpson was yet to hit a Test century when he arrived with his team in England in 1964. After making a slow start to the tour and not passing 31 in his first four innings, Simpson struck form after the first week of May. He passed 50 in seven consecutive innings, making 125 against Somerset, 138 and 55 against Surrey, 57 against Glamorgan, 95 against Cambridge University, and 105 and 52—both not out—in a nine-wicket win over the MCC.