Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

File:Andrew Symonds flickr1 (cropped).jpg Symonds in 2008
Personal information
Born	(1975-06-09)9 June 1975 Birmingham, England
Died	Hervey Range, Queensland, Australia
Nickname	Roy, Symo
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium Right-arm off break
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	Australia (1998–2009)
Test debut (cap 388)	8 March 2004 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	26 December 2008 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 139)	10 November 1998 v Pakistan
Last ODI	3 May 2009 v Pakistan
T20I debut (cap 11)	17 February 2005 v New Zealand
Last T20I	7 May 2009 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1993/94–2009/10	Queensland
1995–1996	Gloucestershire
1999–2004	Kent
2005	Lancashire
2008–2010	Deccan Chargers
2010	Surrey
2011	Mumbai Indians
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 26 198 227 424 Runs scored 1,462 5,088 14,477 11,099 Batting average 40.61 39.75 42.20 34.04 100s/50s 2/10 6/30 40/65 9/64 Top score 162* 156 254* 156 Balls bowled 2,094 5,935 17,633 11,713 Wickets 24 133 242 282 Bowling average 37.33 37.25 36.00 33.25 5 wickets in innings 0 1 2 4 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 3/50 5/18 6/105 6/14 Catches/stumpings 22/– 82/– 159/– 187/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 15 May 2022

Andrew Symonds (9 June 1975 – 14 May 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, who played all three formats as a batting all-rounder. He was an important member of two World Cup winning squads. Symonds played as a right-handed, middle order batsman and alternated between medium pace and off-spin bowling. He was also notable for his exceptional fielding skills.

After mid-2008, Symonds spent significant time out of the team, due to disciplinary reasons, including alcohol. In June 2009, he was sent home from the 2009 World Twenty20, his third suspension, expulsion or exclusion from selection in the space of a year. His central contract was then withdrawn, and many cricket analysts speculated that the Australian administrators would no longer tolerate him, and that Symonds might announce his retirement. Symonds eventually retired from all forms of cricket in February 2012, to concentrate on his family life.

Symonds died in a single-vehicle car crash in Townsville, Queensland, on 14 May 2022 at the age of 46.

Early life

One of Symonds' birth parents was of African-Caribbean background and the other was believed to be of Scandinavian descent. Symonds' was adopted by parents Ken and Barbara at 3 months and they moved to Australia when he was a toddler. He had three siblings. His sister, Louise Symonds, who was also adopted, was a contestant on the Australian Gladiators television series in 2008.

He spent the early part of his childhood in Charters Towers, northern Queensland, where his father taught at the private fee paying All Souls St Gabriels School, which Symonds attended. He showed sporting prowess from a very early age. "Dad was cricket mad. He’d throw balls to me five or six days a week, before school, after school. And we’d play all sorts of games inside the house with ping-pong balls and Christmas decorations." Much of his junior cricket was played in Townsville for the Wanderers club, father and son making the 270-kilometre return trip sometimes twice a week. The family later moved to the Gold Coast, where his parents were on the staff of All Saints Anglican School in Merrimac. Symonds was a student at the school.

Overview of cricket career

Symonds was an aggressive right-handed batsman who could also bowl off spin or medium pace, making him a good all-rounder. He was an exceptional fielder, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the fifth equal most run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the fourth highest success rate, with Ricky Ponting rating him the best fielder he has seen, and a better and more versatile one than Herschelle Gibbs and Jonty Rhodes because Symonds was taller than them, giving him better defensive coverage range and had greater throw power outside the circle. He was very agile for his size and weight (medium-heavy build; 187 cm tall), had excellent reflexes, was able to take catches well and had a powerful and accurate throwing arm. His nickname is Roy, shortened from the name Leroy, after a coach from early in his career believed he resembled local Brisbane basketball player Leroy Loggins. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1994. In 1995, after playing in his first season for English county Gloucestershire, Symonds won the Cricket Writer's Club Young Cricketer of the Year award. Shortly afterwards Symonds was selected as part of the England A team that was to tour Pakistan in the winter; however, he decided not to go, instead choosing to pursue an international career for Australia. His place on the tour was later taken by Middlesex player, Jason Pooley.

Domestic cricket

Australian state cricket

Since making his debut for the Queensland state team in the 1994–95 season Symonds scored more than 5,000 runs and taken more than 100 wickets for his state. Symonds scored 113 and took four wickets in a losing cause in the in the final of the 1998–99 Sheffield Shield season, and was named man of the match in the 2002 Pura Cup final after scoring 123 runs and taking six wickets.

English counties

Symonds played for four English counties during his career—Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire and Surrey. Symonds first appearance for an English county was with Gloucestershire. Initially he was considered an England-qualified player, however, following his first season of county cricket in 1995 he declared that his allegiances lay with Australia when he chose not to tour Pakistan with the England A team.

In August 1995, he hit a record 16 sixes in his unbeaten 254 against Glamorgan at Abergavenny. In doing so, he beat the previous mark set by New Zealand's John R. Reid. Wisden reported that the 16th six "landed on a tennis court about 20 feet (6.1 m) over the boundary" and "though he was undoubtedly helped by the short boundaries, it would have been a hugely effective innings on any ground in the world". Symonds added four more sixes in the second innings, to beat the old record of 17 in a match, set by Warwickshire's Jim Stewart against Lancashire at Blackpool in 1959.

Between 1999 and 2004 Symonds played for Kent. One of the highlights of his time there came on 2 July 2004, when he hit a 43-ball 112 for Kent Spitfires in a Twenty20 Cup match against Middlesex Crusaders. In July 2005 he signed for Lancashire for the rest of the English season having finished duties as part of Australia's ODI squad. In April 2010, he signed for Surrey to play in the Friends Provident t20 competition.

Indian Premier League

In February 2008 Symonds was signed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers for US$1,350,000, which made him the second most expensive player in the league at that time. During the 2008 competition, Symonds scored 117 not out from 53 balls against Rajasthan Royals. The Royals ended up winning the, with Symonds conceding 19 runs from the final over, with 17 required to win.

Symonds started the third season convincingly, scoring two 50s in his first three games with the side in 2010. The following year he was contracted by Mumbai Indians for US$850,000.

International career

Although Symonds was originally qualified to play for England due to it being the country of his birth, and West Indies due to his ancestry, in 1995 he decided that he wished to pursue an international career for Australia instead. His international debut came on 10 November 1998, when he played in a One Day International (ODI) for Australia against Pakistan at Lahore. As an ODI player, he is known for scoring runs at an excellent strike rate of over 90, with a highest score of 156.

However, at the start of his international career, Symonds struggled to make an impact with the bat and ball, although his fielding was of high quality, and was not a regular member of the playing XI. He cemented his place in the team in Australia's opening match of the 2003 Cricket World Cup after allrounder Shane Watson had to withdraw due to injury. Australia had no choice but to pick Symonds after their squad was depleted at the start of the campaign; Shane Warne was sent home after failing a drugs test, Darren Lehmann was still serving a suspension for racial abuse, and Michael Bevan was injured.

In the first match against Pakistan, Symonds scored 143* to guide Australia from 4/86 to 8/310, and Australia went on to a heavy victory and won all their matches to claim the World Cup. Following this breakthrough series, Symonds became consistently effective and a core member of the ODI team. Symonds is sometimes branded as a one-day International 'specialist' as his ODI record with both ball and bat are far better than that of his Test match averages.

In March 2004, Symonds made his long-awaited Test debut in Australia's tour of Sri Lanka after showing great form in One Day International cricket in 2003. The decision was regarded as speculative and based on ODI form rather than a proven track record in first-class cricket, and he replaced Simon Katich, who had scored a century and unbeaten fifty in Australia's previous Test.

Playing as a batsman, Symonds encountered difficulty against Muttiah Muralitharan on the dusty, spinning Sri Lankan tracks, failing to pass 25 in any of his four innings, and was dropped after two Test matches in favour of Katich. Australia then continued to pursue their policy of selecting six specialist batsmen in the longer form of the game, and Symonds was not recalled in that time.

He was recalled in November 2005 following the injury to Shane Watson, as Australia's search for an all-rounder continued. After five Tests, with a batting average of 12.62 and a bowling average of 85.00, his position in the team was under a cloud until the 2005 Boxing Day Test. On the first day of the match, he was out caught behind for a golden duck. Then, with his batting average threatening to drop under 10 and bowling average pushing 100, Symonds took 3/50 in the South African first innings before blasting 72 off 54 balls in the second innings (including a new Australian record for the fastest Test fifty—40 balls) and taking 2/6. For his performances in 2005, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

File:Cricket pic.jpg

Andrew Symonds batting against South Africa in 2006

At the 2006 Allan Border Medal count, Symonds would have won the One Day player of the year award as he polled the most votes, but was ineligible due to a late night of drinking which led to him turning up still inebriated to a match against Bangladesh, after which he was suspended. Symonds won Player of the Series in the 2005–06 Australian VB Series. For his performances in 2006, he was named as 12th man in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

While batting in the second Test in the Australian 2006 tour of South Africa, Symonds was struck in the face of his helmet by a bouncer off Makhaya Ntini. Symonds required four stitches on the inside of his upper lip. Struggling for reliable impact, Symonds was again dropped at the end of this series.

Following the retirement of Damien Martyn during the Ashes in 2006–07 Symonds was again recalled to the team. Scoring just 26 and 2 in his first Test back he found himself under pressure to justify his place in the team. In the Boxing Day Test Symonds faced his biggest challenge when arriving at the crease with Australia in deep trouble at 5/84. After a slow start to his innings he proceeded to score his maiden Test century, combining with Matthew Hayden to put on a 279 run partnership and bringing up the century with a six. Symonds was finally dismissed for 156.

File:AndySymonds.jpg

Andrew Symonds on the way to his maiden Test hundred in 2006.

Although selected in Australia's 15-member World Cup squad he was unavailable for selection for the first few matches because he ruptured his biceps while batting against England on 2 February 2007 in the Commonwealth Bank Tri Series. Surgery was performed and Symonds underwent extensive physical rehabilitation. As a result, he missed the remainder of that tournament as well as the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand while Australia suffered their longest losing streak in over a decade. Symonds remarkably made a relatively quick recovery after returning for Australia's win in their last preliminary World Cup match against South Africa. He bowled the final ball of the 2007 Cricket World Cup that was hosted in the West Indies. The final was contested between Australia and Sri Lanka and was shortened to 38/36 overs per side due to rain throughout the day. Even the final few overs of the Sri Lanka innings were played in almost darkness.

For his performances in 2008, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

Controversies

Allegations of racial taunts

Main article: Second Test, 2007–08 Border–Gavaskar Trophy

In 2007, crowds at the One Day Series in Vadodara, Nagpur and Mumbai were seen to offend Symonds with monkey chants. After the BCCI initially denied the incident at Vadodara took place (claiming it was a confusion with worshipping Hanuman the monkey god), further incidents occurred at the other grounds in the series.

During the subsequent Sri Lankan tour of Australia in late 2007, Symonds had good form with the bat but suffered an ankle injury, which ruled him out for the remainder of the Test series. He then returned for 2007–08 Australia–India series.

File:Andrew symonds.jpg

Symonds playing for Australia against India in 2008.

During the second Test against India on 2 January 2008, Symonds completed his second Test century. He came to the crease with Australia struggling at 119/4. After his initial partners, Michael Clarke (1) and then Adam Gilchrist (7), were dismissed in quick succession, Australia found themselves in dire shape at 134/6. Symonds and Brad Hogg then put on a record 7th wicket partnership at the S.C.G (also a record for Australia vs. India) of 173 until Hogg was dismissed for 79. At stumps on the first day, Symonds was not out on 137, and Australia 376/7. By the end of the innings, Symonds finished on 162 not out, when the Australians were finally bowled out for 463. In January 2008, Indian spin bowler Harbhajan Singh received a three-match ban after a complaint that he had racially abused Symonds during the third day of the Second Test at the SCG. It was alleged that Harbhajan called Symonds a "monkey" after Symonds confronted him over touching fellow Australian player Brett Lee. The case was decided by the match referee, Mike Procter, in a hearing held after the match. The BCCI lodged an appeal against the decision. On 29 January 2008, after the hearing of the appeal, at Adelaide by ICC appeals commissioner John Hansen, the racism charge on Harbhajan Singh was not proved and the three Test ban was lifted. However, a lesser charge (Level 2.8 offence) of using abusive language was applied and Harbhajan was fined 50% of his match fee. Hansen later admitted that he "could have imposed a more serious penalty if he was made aware by the ICC of the bowler's previous transgressions"—including a suspended one Test Match ban. The ICC claimed the "database and human errors ... played a part in Harbhajan Singh escaping a more severe penalty during his appeal hearing in Adelaide". Hansen also criticised Symonds in his report accusing him of swearing at Harbhajan after a friendly gesture by the Indian bowler towards Brett Lee. It was also reported that senior players had written a letter to John Hansen requesting a downgrading of the charge. The letter was signed by Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting and counter-signed by Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and Symonds. The stump microphone audio was removed immediately after the alleged incident between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds was released by Channel Nine.

In his 2013 autobiography At the Close of Play, Ricky Ponting expressed his disillusionment with Cricket Australia for failing to support Symonds, who, though the victim of abuse, was painted as a villain. Daniel Brettig notes how, "duly disillusioned", Symonds "drifted from the game via a series of disciplinary problems".

During the second final of the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series against India on 4 March 2008, Symonds shoulder charged a male streaker who had entered the playing arena. Symonds, who had once considered a career in rugby league with the Brisbane Broncos, may have faced assault charges had the man taken legal action.

Dismissal by Cricket Australia

Symonds was set to play for Australia in the August 2008 series against Bangladesh in Darwin, but was sent home to Queensland after missing a team meeting while out fishing. Stand-in captain Michael Clarke told the media that Symonds would have to re-evaluate his desire to represent Australia: "The main concern from us is Andrew's commitment, to playing for this team and, in my opinion and I know the rest of the leadership team's opinion, you need to be committed 100 per cent." As a further punishment for his misadventure, Symonds was not selected for the Australian tour to India in October 2008.

After Australia lost the test series in India two-nil, Symonds was recalled for the test series against New Zealand in November 2008. He did not play any significant role in the first test, which Australia won. After the test, on 22 November, Symonds was reported to have been involved in a pub brawl with another patron who had attempted to hug him and have his photo taken with the cricketer. He was subsequently cleared by Cricket Australia to play in the second test. He then played in the first two tests of the next series against South Africa but performed poorly and was omitted from the team for the third test due to injury; at the same time, many critics called for his omission on performance grounds.

In January 2009, Symonds gave an interview with sports comedians Roy & HG, in which he made remarks about the acquisition of New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum by the New South Wales Blues to play in the KFC Twenty20 final against Victoria, despite McCullum's not having played at all for the Blues previously. Sounding intoxicated, Symonds called McCullum a "lump of shit", and declared that having dinner at the home of teammate Matthew Hayden was enjoyable because he could glance at Hayden's wife. The interview led to his being charged with violating the Cricket Australia code of conduct. Following a hearing with general manager Michael Brown, he was fined $4,000, instructed to work with a psychologist, and indefinitely barred from selection until he was deemed to have been successfully rehabilitated.

In the meantime Symonds continued to play for Queensland, but was not selected by Australia, missing three five-match series against South Africa, New Zealand and South Africa respectively. He was finally recalled in April to play ODIs against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, but was not selected for the 2009 Ashes squad, with young all-rounders Shane Watson, Andrew McDonald and Marcus North being preferred.

In early June 2009, Symonds was sent home from the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in England following "an alcohol-related incident". Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland called a press conference to announce Symonds' dismissal, which marked the end of his international cricket career. His Cricket Australia contract was also reviewed and later cancelled.

In June 2009, Symonds told Channel Nine's Sixty Minutes that he was not an alcoholic but a binge-drinker. "I go out and drink hard all in one hit – too fast, too much", he said.

Career highlights

Tests

Debut: Against Sri Lanka at Galle, 2003–04

• Best Test bowling figures: 3/50 (vs South Africa, Melbourne, MCG, 2005–06).
• Best Test batting score: 162* (India, Sydney, SCG, 3 January 2008).

One Day Internationals

Debut: Against Pakistan, Lahore, 1998–99

• Best ODI bowling figures: 5/18 (Bangladesh, Manchester, Old Trafford, 2005)
• Best ODI batting score: 156 (New Zealand, Wellington, Westpac Stadium, 7 December 2005)

World records

Symonds previously held the world records for the most sixes hit during a first-class innings (16) and during a first-class match (20), both set while playing for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan as a 20-year-old. His first innings score was 254 not out.

He was named as an all rounder in Australia's "greatest ever ODI team".

Rugby League

Symonds was a keen supporter of the Brisbane Broncos since childhood and was considering a switch to rugby league in 2002 when his cricket career was faltering. On 21 June 2009 he played a game for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls against an all star team featuring some noted players, including Marcus Bai and Steve Renouf. He also trained with the Brisbane Broncos. In 2011 he played for Queensland in the inaugural 'Legend of Origin' match to support the victims of the Queensland floods.

Media

Symonds played himself in the 2011 Bollywood movie Patiala House. In 2011, Symonds was a contestant on the Indian reality series Bigg Boss, the third international cricketer to have appeared on the show. As speaking in English was strictly prohibited, Pooja Mishra, one of the most controversial Indian contestants of Bigg Boss, acted as a translator for Symonds.

Symonds worked as a guest commentator for Big Bash matches between the 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons.

Death

Symonds was killed in a single-vehicle road accident in Townsville, Queensland, on 14 May 2022, at the age of 46. Queensland Police said in a statement that Symonds was driving on Hervey Range Road near the Alice River Bridge when his car left the road and rolled at around 10:30 pm local time. Symonds was the only occupant of the car. Paramedics responded and attempted to revive him, but Symonds was pronounced dead at the scene.

External links

• Player profile: Andrew Symonds from ESPNcricinfo