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Bring back Roy, says Lehmann

21st January, 2009
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Darren Lehmann has called for Andrew Symonds’ return to the Australian one-day side “as soon as possible” as the allrounder prepares his injury comeback for Queensland.

Symonds only began running again last week – less than a month after knee surgery – but returns to Queensland training on Thursday and could could be back in the Bulls side next week after a weekend club game.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Wednesday heaped praise on the young brigade who had stepped up in the absence of the likes of Symonds.

But Lehmann believed the Australian team had “missed” the 33-year-old Symonds since he underwent surgery following the Boxing Day Test, particularly in the one-day format.

“We need Symonds’ experience and his explosive talent in the one day format – they have missed him,” the former Test batsman told AAP.

Despite the absence of Symonds, Brett Lee, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, Australia won the Twenty20 series 2-0 against South Africa and the five-match one-day series is locked up at 1-1 – prompting the kudos from Ponting.

However, Lehmann believed the sooner Symonds was injected into the national team the better.

“It’s great to see him back in the mix. Hopefully he gets fit and ready to go so he can get back into that one day side as soon as possible,” he said.

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“He knows what he has to do to get right. I have no doubt that he will make runs and he will be in form when he comes back for Australia – he’s a quality player.”

Symonds will be considered for the Bulls’ Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia next week.

A final decision will be made after he completes his official comeback match in Brisbane club cricket this weekend.

He will take the field for the Gold Coast Dolphins against Redlands at Kerrydale on Saturday.

Symonds also played for the Dolphins in his first match back from the now infamous “gone fishing” controversy at Darwin when he was dropped from the Australian squad last year.

National selectors later raised eyebrows when Symonds leapfrogged Indian tour revelation Watson for the No.1 allrounder spot in the Down Under summer Test series.

He showed flashes of brilliance with the bat in Tests against New Zealand and South Africa but was clearly battling injury in the Boxing Day Test.

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Symonds finally had loose fragments of cartilage removed from his right knee on New Year’s Eve and started running last week at Brisbane’s Centre of Excellence under the keen eye of Cricket Australia performance staff.

He has already impressed Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris in his rehabilitation and now hopes to do enough to convince Bulls selectors that he can contribute to Queensland’s impressive season.

His encouraging recovery is a big boost to Symonds’ chances of touring South Africa.

The Australian touring party leaves for South Africa on February 16.

But his main focus is the Bulls who are second on the both the Sheffield Shield and one-day domestic ladders.

In more good news for the Bulls, Queensland officials said on Wednesday that allrounder Ashley Noffke (back) and pacemen Scott Brant (shin) and Chris Swan (groin) were on track in their recovery from injury.

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