Australia's Andrew Symonds reacts after scoring a century. AP Photo/Gautam Singh
What has Australian cricket lost? One of their greatest-ever swashbucklers or an over-hyped problem child? The answer is a bit of both.
At his best, Symonds was one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket, the most athletic fielder and a more than handy bowler who could pick up wickets with both off-spin and medium-pace.
At his worst, he’s a wasted talent who has made headlines over and over for all the wrong reasons.
The problem for Australia, and most particularly Symonds, his best is past him and he’s been unable to move with the times in a changing Australian cricket culture.
His Test record stands at 1462 runs from 26 Tests at 40.61, and 26 wickets at 37. His one-day stats over 198 international are even better with a batting average of 40 at a strike-rate of 92, and 133 wickets at 37.
But his numbers in both forms of the game have dipped in the past 12 months as he’s struggled to come to terms with the fallout of the Harbhajan Singh racial complaint 18 months ago.
A laidback, dreadlocked bloke who possesses a dry sense of humour and a love of fishing and hunting, sponsors clamoured over him as he appeared in every second adverisement in Channel Nine commercial break’s last summer.
The extra air-time may have also inflated opinions of his standing in the game. As good as he was for the third-coming of his Test career, Symonds has averaged an unconvincing 36 with the bat in 14 Sheffield Shield seasons for Queensland.
Cricket Australia, whose board met on Friday, aren’t expected to make their call until next week but it’s expected Symonds will no longer be a contracted player at the end of this month.
As minor as his latest indiscretion appears, CA is at pains to point out its the final straw after a series of misdemeanours and ran in contradiction to the 33-year-old’s own team commitments.
Symonds can be forgiven for seeing the hypocrisy of the situation however.
He was sent home for drinking a few too many beers in celebrating Queensland’s State of Origin victory. His captain immediately holds a subsequent press conference wearing a cap with the logo of sponsors VB emblazoned on the front.
Current selector David Boon is also widely celebrated for drinking 52 tinnies on the flight to England for the 1989 Ashes.
Those close to Symonds believe he has never recovered from CA’s handling of “monkey-gate” when Harbhajan was cleared of racial abuse against the Gold Coaster, after India threatened to pull out of their tour.
Former teammate Ian Healy even speculated the latest slip-up could have been a “sick-and-tired” Symonds way out of international cricket to enjoy the freedom and riches of the IPL.
Struggling to fit into a younger, new-age Australian team environment, the hyped-up bash-and-crash IPL now looks a haven for the tormented swashbuckler.
TIMELINE ON ANDREW SYMONDS’ CAREER AFTER BEING SENT HOME IN DISGRACE
Name: Andrew Symonds
Born: June 9, 1975
State: Queensland
Right-hand bat
Right-arm medium/off-spinnerJune 4 2009 – Symonds is sent home in disgrace, after another alcohol related incident, just before Australia’s opening match in the World Twenty20 in England.
May 20, 2009 – Misses out on selection for the Australian 2009 Ashes team.
March 2009 – Kicked out of a Brisbane bar for being intoxicated.January 2009 – Cricket Australia fined Symonds $4000 for calling New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendan McCullum, “a piece of shit” during a radio interview.
December 2008 – Test match playing future under a cloud, after Symonds aggravates a knee injury and is left off South African tour.
November 2008 – Involved in an altercation at the Normanby Hotel in Brisbane, while drinking with players from the Kangaroos rugby league squad.
August 2008 – Symonds sent home from Darwin after missing a team meeting before the Bangladesh series, because he went fishing instead. Admits he has a drinking problem and has counselling.
June 2008 – Symonds fined an undisclosed amount after sleeping in and missing the team’s bus in the West Indies. He also has an argument with teammate and new vice-captain Michael Clarke at the bar, who tells him to go to bed.
March 2008 – Symonds knocks down a streaking fan, who invaded the pitch, during Australia’s tri-series defeat to India at the Gabba.
February 2008 – Symonds becomes the second most valuable cricketer in the world, scooping a $US1.35 million to play with Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League.
January 2008 – Symonds is the target of a racial slur from India’s Harbhajan Singh at the SCG.
Singh allegedly called him a `monkey’ but escapes suspension on appeal. Symonds records his highest Test score with an unbeaten 162 against India in same match.
October 2007 – Symonds racially abused by members of the crowd at a one-day match in Vadodara, India. Receives similar taunts six days later at a day-night clash in front of a frenzied Mumbai crowd.
December 2007 – Scores his first Test century, 156 against England at the MCG.
March 2006 – Symonds has a heated argument with a rugby player in a Cape Town nightclub, Clarke steps in to cools things down.
June 2005 – Receives a two-match suspension after showing up drunk to a one-day match against Bangladesh in Cardiff.
March 2004 – Makes Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle.
February-March 2003 – Symonds is controverisally selected for the World Cup and responds with career-turning knock of 143 in the opening match.
November 1998 – Symonds begins one-day international career against Pakistan in Lahore.
1994/95 – Makes his first-class debut for Queensland.
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