During the 1961 tour to England, he began his celebrated opening partnership with Bill Lawry, when the Victorian broke into the Australian team. Initially, Simpson was moved into the middle-order so that Lawry could open with McDonald. This occurred after Lawry scored heavily in the tour matches ahead of the Tests, scoring several centuries, whereas Simpson failed to make the most of his starts. In his first six county matches, Simpson reached double figures six times in ten innings. He passed 25 on all six occasions, but only passed fifty once, scoring a 72 against Yorkshire. Simpson struck form in his last two matches before the Tests. Against the Marylebone Cricket Club, which fielded several Test players, he struck an unbeaten 92 in an unbroken 186-run opening stand with Lawry in the second innings to set up a match-winning declaration, and took a total of 4/105 with his leg spin. He then broke through for his maiden first-class ton on English soil, striking 148 in an innings win over Oxford University. He ended the lead-in matches with 569 runs at 52.72 and 17 wickets at 30.05 including 4/13 and 3/56 against Surrey and Lancashire. With Benaud continuing to be hampered by his shoulder, Simpson would often bowl heavily throughout the English summer.