"WHEN you get a benefit in 1980, you don't think there's going to be too many years after that.

"You think that's your pension. But I didn't want to finish. Why would I want to go back to being a draughtsman?" Why indeed?

The Lancashire all-rounder became the first county cricketer to raise over £100,000 for a benefit year, making a remarkable £128,300.

It was a measure of how much the affable cricketer meant to the people of Lancashire.

But little did he know that he had almost another nine years left at the top and his finest hour in a Lancashire shirt was still ahead of him.

Despite being well into his 40s, "Flat" Jack Simmons was still a vital member of the Lancashire team.

After a highly successful period in the 1970s, the Lancashire team started to evolve and some new faces began to emerge in the Red Rose ranks.

But, thanks to the strength of cricket in the county, these young bucks created a new destiny at Old Trafford.

Under Clive Lloyd, the club won the Lambert and Butler Floodlit Trophy but it was the 1984 B&H Cup final at Lord's that stands out.

Against Warwickshire, Jack kept a tight rein of the dangerous West Indian batsman Alvin Kallicharan to help Lancashire to a comfortable win.

"A lot of people thought I should have got the man of the match award for that," he said.

"Out of the 11 overs I bowled, I reckon I bowled about 50 balls at Kallicharan. On that stage, that was my best ever performance.

"And the last ball I bowled, Chris Old hit me for four.

"Again I was lucky. David Lloyd had retired, Barry Wood had gone to Derby and then retired, Harry Pilling had finished, Pete Lever had finished but David Hughes was still there. And then we got some class players like Gehan Mendis, Graham Fowler, Neil Fairbrother, Steve O'Shaughnessy, Michael Atherton, Graham Lloyd and Ian Austin in.

"I also got to play with Wasim Akram, which was an honour. You knew then that was going to be a great time for the club. Phil DeFreitas also came to us.

"Winker was bowling seamers when he first started and I saw him bowling off-spinners in the nets and I told him he should practice them. His finger was about three-quarters of an inch longer than mine and he did well. He got picked for England as an off-spinner.

"There was a real changing of the guard and it was another special time at Lancashire."

Off the field, Jack's touring company was still going strong and he had invested in a leisure centre in Trafford Park, Manchester, called Bowlers, where he was the managing director.

The centre opened in 1985 and introduced indoor cricket into the area, a sport that was a big hit Down Under.

Former Genesis star Phil Collins was also an investor.

But on the field, the trophies were still pouring in.

In 1988, under Jack's long-term room-mate David Hughes' tenure, Lancashire lifted the Refuge Assurance Cup after a 52-run win over Worcestershire at Edgbaston.

But it was the final success, the Refuge Assurance League trophy, that was particularly poignant for Jack - because it was his last in a Lancashire shirt.

And it couldn't have been more nerve-wracking.

Lancashire looked to be cruising to the title when they hit the wall as they approached the finishing line.

He said: "Our last three games in that competition that year were all at home and we just had to win one of them to win the Refuge Cup.

"The first was against Essex and we were totally out-played, but it rained and the game was abandoned and deemed a draw. Essex were our nearest rivals for the trophy and if they'd have won then it would have made it very difficult for us to win.

"We then played Yorkshire who were very close to the bottom and they annihilated us."

So the title came to the final game against Surrey at Old Trafford on August 27, 1989. The final day of Jack's Lancashire career.

But Jack produced the old magic once again.

"There were quite a number of tears that day," he said. "I was always nervous when we went out but once you get that first couple of balls out of the way then the concentration takes over. I bowled well.

"Alec Stewart was playing and he got 56 that day and he was trying to hit me inside out' through extra cover and I bowled him.

"I very seldom show emotion when I get a wicket but I did that day and I thought we could keep them down to a total I thought we could get.

"I was due to go in at number eight but because of the situation, and the need for quick running between the wickets, I was going further down the order.

"Paul Allott went in before me, not that I think he's a faster runner than me, but he went in before me and hit Martin Bicknell back over his head and won the game.

"It was a very emotional and a fabulous day for me.

"We were presented with the cup that day.

"I was presented with a special award on the balcony at Old Trafford by the chairman Bob Bennett in front of all the fans who were still there.

"It's afterwards that you have time to reflect and you think what the bloody hell am I going to do now?' "But I had Bowlers then, so I had something to concentrate on."