Andrew Symonds
Encyclopedia
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team
all-rounder
. A two-time World Cup
winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace
and off-spin bowling.
Since mid-2008, he spent most of the 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 His central contract was then withdrawn, and many cricket analysts have speculated that the Australian administrators will no longer tolerate him, and that Symonds may announce his retirement.
. He also has two non-adopted siblings. He spent the early part of his childhood in Charters Towers, northern Queensland, where his father Ken taught at the private fee paying All Souls St Gabriels School, which Andrew 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.
off spin
or medium pace, making him a good all-rounder
. He is 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. He is very agile for his size and weight (medium-heavy build; 187 cm tall), has excellent reflexes, is able to take catches well and has 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
NBL
hero Leroy Loggins
.
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
.
in the 1994–95 season Symonds has 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 Sheffield Shield final in 1999 and was named Man of the Match
in the 2002 Pura Cup
final after scoring 123 runs and taking six wickets.
, Kent and Lancashire
. 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.
It was in this season though that 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 Lions ahead of the Friends Provident t20.
franchise Deccan Chargers
from Hyderabad for US$1,350,000 which made him the second most expensive player in the league at that time. The same team also secured Australian team-mate Adam Gilchrist
for US$700,000. The IPL
commenced on 18 April 2008. On 24 April 2008 Symonds made 117 not out off 53 balls against the Rajasthan Royals
. The Royals ended up winning that match as Symonds bowled the last over and conceded 19 runs when the Royals required 17 runs from six balls.
Symonds missed most of the second season of the IPL due to International commitments. However, he played a crucial part in the triumph of his team towards the end of the season.
Symonds started the third season convincingly scoring two 50s in his first three games with the Mongoose Cricket Bat
.
In the fourth season, Symonds was contracted by Mumbai Indians
for US$850,000.
due to it being the country of his birth, 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
, having being controversially given a lifeline before the start of the tournament when captain Ricky Ponting
publicly called for his selection in the team 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.
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.
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 first Test century, combining with his good friend Matthew Hayden
to put on a 279 run partnership and bringing up the century with a six. Symonds was finally dismissed for 156.
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.
, Nagpur
and Mumbai
were seen to offend Symonds with monkey chants. After the BCCI initially denied the incident at Vadodara took place, further incidents occurred at the other grounds in the series.
During Sri Lanka's tour of Australia in 2007–08 he had good form with the bat but had an ankle injury which ruled him out of the rest of the Test series.
During the second Test against India on 2 January 2008 Symonds completed his second Test century, coming to the crease with Australia at 4/119. When Michael Clarke
(1) and then Adam Gilchrist
(7) were dismissed in quick succession Australia found themselves in poor shape at 6/134. Symonds and Brad Hogg
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. Symonds was the beneficiary of some controversial decisions in the course of his innings. 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 Harbahjan 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 Harbahjan Singh was not proved and the three Test ban was lifted. However, a lesser charge (Level 2.8 offense) of using abusive language was applied and Harbahjan 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 Harbahjan after a friendly gesture by Harbahjan 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 Andrew Symonds. The stump microphone audio from immediately after the alleged incident between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds was released by Channel Nine.
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.
, but was sent home to Queensland after missing the team meeting on the Friday 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."
He was also not selected for the Australian tour to India in October 2008, as further punishment for his misadventure. After Australia's two-nil series loss, however, he quickly become an integral part of its future plans and was selected to play the Test Series against New Zealand in November. He did not play any significant role in the First Test, which Australia won, but at the end of the Test, on 22 November, was involved in an incident in a Brisbane
pub and reported to have been involved in a brawl with another patron who had attempted to hug 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 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 team-mate Matthew Hayden
was enjoyable because he could glance at Hayden's wife. He was charged by Cricket Australia with violating its code of conduct and was fined, following a hearing with Cricket Australia chief Michael Brown over the 25-minute radio appearance. As a result he was also indefinitely barred from selection until he was deemed to have been successfully rehabilitated, and made to work with a psychologist.
In the meantime, he continued to play for Queensland, but was overlooked for Australia's ongoing international matches, 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.
He was not selected in the 2009 Ashes squad, however, Shane Watson
, Andrew McDonald
and Marcus North
getting the nod instead. In early June 2009, Symonds was sent home from the ICC World Twenty20
tournament in England following a late-night drinking episode after a team dinner. Cricket Australia
chief executive James Sutherland
called a press conference to announce Symonds' dismissal, which is likely to mark 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 merely a binge-drinker
. "I go out and drink hard all in one hit—too fast, too much," he said.
since childhood and was considering a switch to rugby league
in 2002 when his cricket career was faltering, but ultimately decided to stay in cricket. 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 has also trained with the Brisbane Broncos
in the past. In 2011 he played in the inaugural 'Legend of Origin' match to support victims of the Queensland floods. He played for Queensland alongside such league legends as Gorden Tallis
, Wendell Sailor
, Mat Rogers
and Mal Meninga
Debut: Against Sri Lanka Galle
, 2003–04
One-day Internationals
Debut: Against Pakistan
, Lahore
, 1998–99
World Records
Symonds holds 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.
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
. A two-time World Cup
Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council , with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years...
winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace
Seam bowling
Seam bowling is a phrase used for a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers....
and off-spin bowling.
Since mid-2008, he spent most of the 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 have speculated that the Australian administrators will no longer tolerate him, and that Symonds may announce his retirement.
Early life
One of Symonds' biological parents was of West Indian background and the other was believed to be of Danish or Swedish descent. Symonds' adoptive parents Ken and Barbara moved to Australia shortly after his adoption, when he was three months old. Of the adopted siblings, Louise Symonds participated in GladiatorsGladiators (2008 Australian TV series)
Gladiators was an Australian television series which aired on the Seven Network in 2008. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name, and was based on the American version of the show, which was also revived in 2008....
. He also has two non-adopted siblings. He spent the early part of his childhood in Charters Towers, northern Queensland, where his father Ken taught at the private fee paying All Souls St Gabriels School, which Andrew 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
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, where his parents were on the staff of All Saints Anglican School
All Saints Anglican School
All Saints Anglican School is a private, co-educational school established in 1987 under the Aegis of the Anglican Archdiocese of Brisbane. The school is located on a 40-hectare campus on the Gold Coast Hinterland at Merrimac, near the Robina Central Business District...
in Merrimac
Merrimac, Queensland
Merrimac is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 Census, Merrimac had a population of 5,690. The community takes its name from two possible sources: the Merrimac River in New England or the USS Merrimac, a Union navy frigate itself named for the river.Merrimac is...
. Symonds was a student at the school.
Overview of cricket career
Symonds is an aggressive right-handed batsman who can also bowlBowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
or medium pace, making him a good all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
. He is an exceptional fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
, with a report prepared by Cricinfo
Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup
1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
, he had effected the fifth equal most run-outs
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the fourth highest success rate. He is very agile for his size and weight (medium-heavy build; 187 cm tall), has excellent reflexes, is able to take catches well and has 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
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
NBL
National Basketball League (Australia)
The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....
hero Leroy Loggins
Leroy Loggins
Leroy Loggins is a former professional basketball player who played in the Australian National Basketball League from 1981 to the 2000-01 season...
.
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
England A cricket team
The England Lions cricket team is a cricket team representing England and Wales. It is the "second-tier" of international English cricket below the full England cricket team, and is largely intended as a way for promising young cricketers to gain experience of playing international cricket...
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
Jason Pooley
Jason Calvin Pooley is a former cricketer, who represented Middlesex in the County Championship. Pooley is now retired from cricket.A left-handed batsman, Pooley played 82 first-class matches and 103 List A matches....
.
Australian State Cricket
Since making his debut for the Queensland state teamQueensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
in the 1994–95 season Symonds has 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 Sheffield Shield final in 1999 and was named Man of the Match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
in the 2002 Pura Cup
Pura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
final after scoring 123 runs and taking six wickets.
English Counties
Symonds has played for three English counties during his career—GloucestershireGloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
, Kent and Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
. 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.
It was in this season though that he hit a record 16 sixes in his unbeaten 254 against Glamorgan at Abergavenny
Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny
Pen-y-Pound is a cricket ground in Abergavenny, Wales. It is the home of Abergavenny Cricket Club, who play in the South Wales Cricket League. The ground was first used by the Glamorgan 1st XI in 1981 for limited over matches and in 1983 for County Championship matches. Between 1985 and 1997, the...
. In doing so, he beat the previous mark set by New Zealand's John R. Reid
John Richard Reid
John Richard Reid was a New Zealand cricketer who captained New Zealand in 34 Tests. He was the country's first cricketing leader to achieve victory, both at home against the West Indies in 1956 and the first away win, against South Africa in 1962...
. Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
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
Jim Stewart (cricketer)
William James Perver Stewart is a former Welsh first-class cricketer. He played for Warwickshire.-External links:*...
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
Twenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...
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 Lions ahead of the Friends Provident t20.
Indian Premier League
On 20 February 2008 Symonds signed up with the IPLIndian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
franchise Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers known in short as DC or 'Chargers' is a cricket franchise that represents the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League...
from Hyderabad for US$1,350,000 which made him the second most expensive player in the league at that time. The same team also secured Australian team-mate Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
for US$700,000. The IPL
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
commenced on 18 April 2008. On 24 April 2008 Symonds made 117 not out off 53 balls against the Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals is an Indian Premier League franchise based on the city of the Jaipur captained and coached by former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.They were the champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League...
. The Royals ended up winning that match as Symonds bowled the last over and conceded 19 runs when the Royals required 17 runs from six balls.
Symonds missed most of the second season of the IPL due to International commitments. However, he played a crucial part in the triumph of his team towards the end of the season.
Symonds started the third season convincingly scoring two 50s in his first three games with the Mongoose Cricket Bat
Mongoose Cricket Bat
The Mongoose MMi3 is a cricket bat specifically designed for Twenty20 cricket. The design is unusual in that the blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43% longer....
.
In the fourth season, Symonds was contracted by Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians , is a franchise cricket team representing Mumbai in the Indian Premier League. The team is one of the eight founding members of the IPL in 2008. Mumbai Indians are currently led by Sachin Tendulkar, who is the Icon Player for the team and is coached by Robin Singh...
for US$850,000.
International career
Although Symonds was originally qualified to play for EnglandEnglish cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
due to it being the country of his birth, 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
Cricket statistics
Cricket is a sport that generates a large number of statistics.Statistics are recorded for each player during a match, and aggregated over a career. At the professional level, statistics for Test cricket, one-day internationals, and first-class cricket are recorded separately...
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
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, having being controversially given a lifeline before the start of the tournament when captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
publicly called for his selection in the team after allrounder Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
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
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
was sent home after failing a drugs test, Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer, who made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s, and only became a regular in the ODI team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005...
was still serving a suspension for racial abuse, and Michael Bevan
Michael Bevan
Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...
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
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
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
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
, who had scored a century and unbeaten fifty in Australia's previous Test.
Playing as a batsman, Symonds encountered difficulty against Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
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
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
, 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
Boxing Day Test
The Boxing Day Test match is a cricket Test match hosted in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia involving the Australian cricket team and an opposing national team which is touring Australia that summer. It begins annually on Boxing Day and is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground...
. On the first day of the match, he was out caught behind for a golden duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
. Then, with his batting average threatening to drop under 10 and bowling average pushing 100, Symonds took 3/50 in the South African
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
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.
At the 2006 Allan Border Medal
Allan Border Medal
The Allan Border Medal is considered to be the biggest individual prize in Australian cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian captain Allan Border and recognises the most outstanding Australian cricketer of the past season as voted by his peers, the media and...
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
Bangladeshi cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team is a national cricket team representing Bangladesh. The team is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board . Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status...
, after which he was suspended. Symonds won Player of the Series in the 2005–06 Australian VB Series.
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
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
. 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
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
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 first Test century, combining with his good friend Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
to put on a 279 run partnership and bringing up the century with a six. Symonds was finally dismissed for 156.
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
Biceps
Biceps may refer to:*Biceps brachii muscle, a muscle located on the inside of the upper arm*Biceps femoris muscle, one of the hamstring muscles of the back of each thigh*Biceps , a point in a metrical pattern...
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
Chappell-Hadlee Trophy
The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in cricket is an annual ODI series between Australia and New Zealand. It is named after legendary cricketing families from the two countries, the Chappell brothers of Australia and Walter Hadlee and his three sons, , of New Zealand.The trophy is currently held by...
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
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
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.
Allegations of racial taunts
In 2007, crowds at the One Day Series in VadodaraVadodara
Vadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...
, Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
were seen to offend Symonds with monkey chants. After the BCCI initially denied the incident at Vadodara took place, further incidents occurred at the other grounds in the series.
During Sri Lanka's tour of Australia in 2007–08 he had good form with the bat but had an ankle injury which ruled him out of the rest of the Test series.
During the second Test against India on 2 January 2008 Symonds completed his second Test century, coming to the crease with Australia at 4/119. When Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
(1) and then Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
(7) were dismissed in quick succession Australia found themselves in poor shape at 6/134. Symonds and Brad Hogg
Brad Hogg
George Bradley "Brad" Hogg , is an Australian cricketer currently listed with the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League. He is a left-arm chinaman bowler, and a capable lower-order left-handed batsman, as well as an excellent fielder....
put on a record 7th wicket partnership at the S.C.G
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
(also a record for Australia vs. India) of 173 until Hogg was dismissed for 79. Symonds was the beneficiary of some controversial decisions in the course of his innings. 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
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh Plaha , commonly known as Harbhajan Singh, is an Indian cricketer. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner, behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan....
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 Harbahjan called Symonds a "monkey" after Symonds confronted him over touching fellow Australian player Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
. The case was decided by the match referee, Mike Procter
Mike Procter
Michael John Procter is a former South African cricketer. A fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, his chances for a long and productive test career were wrecked by South Africa's banishment from world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s...
, in a hearing held after the match.
The BCCI
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. It's not the apex governing body in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu...
lodged an appeal against the decision. On 29 January 2008, after the hearing of the appeal, at Adelaide by ICC appeals commissioner John Hansen
John William Hansen
Sir John William Hansen, KNZM is a judge of the New Zealand High Court and a member of the International Cricket Council Code of Conduct Commission....
, the racism charge on Harbahjan Singh was not proved and the three Test ban was lifted. However, a lesser charge (Level 2.8 offense) of using abusive language was applied and Harbahjan 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 Harbahjan after a friendly gesture by Harbahjan towards Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
. 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
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
and Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
and counter-signed by Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
, Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
and Andrew Symonds. The stump microphone audio from immediately after the alleged incident between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds was released by Channel Nine.
During the second final of the 2007-08 Commonwealth Bank Series
2007-08 Commonwealth Bank Series
The 2007-08 edition of the Commonwealth Bank Series was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Australia. The Commonwealth Bank Series is an annual event involving the national teams of Australia, India and Sri Lanka...
against India on 4 March 2008, Symonds shoulder charged a male streaker
Streaking
Streaking is the act of running nude through a public place.-History:On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter...
who had entered the playing arena. Symonds, who had once considered a career in rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
with the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
, may have faced assault charges had the man taken legal action.
Controversy and dismissal
Symonds was set to play for Australia in the August 2008 series against Bangladesh in DarwinDarwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, but was sent home to Queensland after missing the team meeting on the Friday while out fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. 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."
He was also not selected for the Australian tour to India in October 2008, as further punishment for his misadventure. After Australia's two-nil series loss, however, he quickly become an integral part of its future plans and was selected to play the Test Series against New Zealand in November. He did not play any significant role in the First Test, which Australia won, but at the end of the Test, on 22 November, was involved in an incident in a Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
pub and reported to have been involved in a brawl with another patron who had attempted to hug 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
Brendon McCullum
Brendon Barrie McCullum is a New Zealand international cricketer, who plays for the Otago Volts at provincial level. He is a wicket-keeper, as well as an aggressive batsman who opens in One-day Internationals and is known for his fast scoring rate...
by the New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
to play in 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 team-mate Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
was enjoyable because he could glance at Hayden's wife. He was charged by Cricket Australia with violating its code of conduct and was fined, following a hearing with Cricket Australia chief Michael Brown over the 25-minute radio appearance. As a result he was also indefinitely barred from selection until he was deemed to have been successfully rehabilitated, and made to work with a psychologist.
In the meantime, he continued to play for Queensland, but was overlooked for Australia's ongoing international matches, 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.
He was not selected in the 2009 Ashes squad, however, Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
, Andrew McDonald
Andrew McDonald (cricketer)
Andrew Barry McDonald is an Australian Test cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers, and who made his Test debut in Sydney on 3 January 2009, against South Africa. McDonald also represented Australia at under 19 level and has played for the Prime Minister's XI...
and Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
getting the nod instead. In early June 2009, Symonds was sent home from the ICC World Twenty20
ICC World Twenty20
The ICC World Twenty20 or ICC World T20 also referred to as the T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council...
tournament in England following a late-night drinking episode after a team dinner. Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
chief executive James Sutherland
James Sutherland (cricketer)
James Alexander Sutherland is a former Australian first-class cricketer and current cricket administrator...
called a press conference to announce Symonds' dismissal, which is likely to mark the end of his international cricket career. His Cricket Australia contract was also reviewed and later cancelled.
In June 2009, Symonds told Channel Nine
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
's Sixty Minutes that he was not an alcoholic but merely a binge-drinker
Binge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...
. "I go out and drink hard all in one hit—too fast, too much," he said.
Rugby League
Symonds has been a keen supporter of the Brisbane BroncosBrisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
since childhood and was considering a switch to rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
in 2002 when his cricket career was faltering, but ultimately decided to stay in cricket. 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
Marcus Bai
Marcus Bai is a Papua New Guinean former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a winger, he played his final season in 2006 for English Super League team Bradford Bulls. He is the only man to win the World Club Challenge with three different clubs...
and Steve Renouf
Steve Renouf
Stephen Renouf is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. Of Aboriginal and European descent, he was known as one of the sport's greatest centres. Renouf set numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos club and is considered one of the greatest...
. He has also trained with the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
in the past. In 2011 he played in the inaugural 'Legend of Origin' match to support victims of the Queensland floods. He played for Queensland alongside such league legends as Gorden Tallis
Gorden Tallis
Gorden James Tallis is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played from 1992 to 2004. He captained Australia and Queensland as well as the Brisbane Broncos club, with whom he won three premierships and one Clive Churchill Medal...
, Wendell Sailor
Wendell Sailor
Wendell Jermaine Sailor is an Australian former professional rugby football player who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. He is an Australian Torres Strait Islander.Sailor's large frame and bullocking style changed the way wingers played rugby...
, Mat Rogers
Mat Rogers
Matthew S. "Mat" Rogers is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He also played rugby union at the highest levels, becoming a dual-code international. The son of the late Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks legend and CEO Steve Rogers, Mat played for the Sharks...
and Mal Meninga
Mal Meninga
Malcolm Norman Meninga AM is an Australian former rugby league test captain and current coach of Queensland's State of Origin team. As a player he was a legendary goal-kicking centre, counted amongst the finest footballers of the 20th century...
Career highlights
TestsDebut: Against Sri Lanka Galle
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
, 2003–04
- Best Test bowling figures: 3/50 (South Africa, Melbourne, MCG, 2005–06).
- Best Test batting score: 162* (India, Sydney, SCG, 3 January 2008).
One-day Internationals
Debut: Against Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, 1998–99
- Best ODI bowling figures: 5/18 (Bangladesh, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Old Trafford, 2005) - Best ODI batting score: 156 (New Zealand, Wellington, Westpac Stadium, 7 December 2005)
World Records
Symonds holds 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.