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A besieged Andrew Symonds will seek the advice of friends such as Matthew Hayden and John Buchanan before deciding whether to announce his retirement from Australian cricket.
Symonds arrived home in Brisbane early on Saturday morning admitting he has plenty to consider after being banished from the World Twenty20 tournament in England.
He then met with Cricket Australia head of operations Michael Brown and indicated he was likely to decide on his future by the middle of the week.
The wayward allrounder’s international career is all but over after he went missing from the team’s London hotel, the last of a series of minor indiscretions, while preparing for the 20-over tournament.
With his downgraded contract under review, Symonds, who turns 34 this week, is expected to take the decision out of CA’s hands by falling on his sword and turning his attention to the Indian Premier League, where he holds a $US1.35 million ($A1.68 million) contract.
But he could also choose to continue his 15-year interstate career with Queensland, who are prepared to offer a lifeline if he wants to keep playing in Australia.
Flanked by two security guards, Symonds looked exhausted and slightly surprised by a large media contingent waiting for him when he landed at Brisbane Airport.
He declined to answer questions but spoke briefly after unloading his bags into his Ford Ranger ute driven by former Bulls teammate Joe Dawes.
“I’ve got a fair bit to consider I suppose, and I appreciate you all coming out here this morning, (but) I will come out and make a full and proper statement when I’ve gathered my thoughts and sat down with friends,” he said.
Among those Symonds is set to speak with are former coach and mentor Buchanan and close mate and long-time Test and Queensland teammate Hayden, now an IPL specialist.
Both have offered their full support to the enigmatic star who has struggled with alcohol issues as well as fitting back into a changing Australian team environment after a rocky past 12 months.
Symonds’ difficulty in returning from two separate periods of rehabilitation and counselling was seen as the reason for his latest string of misdemeanours, judged as the “final straw” by CA.
Newspaper reports also suggested he was frustrated by a $200,000 cut in his annual contract, originally due to start next month, with his ranking in the national team spiralling down below the top 16.
CA public affairs manager Peter Young said the board was prepared to wait for Symonds to “clear his head” and decide on future plans.
“It’s now in Andrew’s hands as to what he wants to do,” Young said. “Everybody is waiting to hear what he’s thinking and appropriately he wants to take a few days to weigh things up.”
Queensland Cricket chief executive Graham Dixon said the Bulls would welcome him back with open arms if he chose to play interstate cricket.
“Andrew has been with us since under-17s and half his life has been with the Queensland Cricket family and we like the bloke and want to try and help him through this issue,” Dixon said.
“It would be a loss to the game. Despite all these indiscretions, he’s a crowd-puller and he’s a crowd-pleaser with his fantastic ability.”
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