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Straight-out Symonds … a viewpoint in 2005
Chloe Saltau,
Courtesy of tthe Age, online, 2005/07/01/1119724813095.html
Asked what he likes about Andrew Symonds, Queensland captain Jimmy Maher doesn't hesitate. "I refer to him as a trenches man," he says. "Everything's black or white. There are no hidden agendas with him . . . He's an open book." Among those who have been in cricket's trenches with Symonds, unquestioning loyalty is a recurring theme. Among those who haven't, there remains a certain wariness, particularly in the country of his birth. Perhaps that is because Symonds, born in Birmingham, could have played for England if he'd wanted to but instead, since his famously career-turning World Cup innings against Pakistan, has become one of the finest and most athletic one-day players in the world and couldn't be any more Australian.
During his turbulent stint with Kent last year, Symonds was known in the quaint English city of Canterbury as "bush tucker man", an image he revelled in. When he is finished with cricket, his friends expect he will run a farm in rural Queensland and live a simple life of fishing and hunting. "He's just outstanding at it," Maher says. "For someone who is not necessarily academically bright, there aren't many who have better street smarts or who are as quick-witted. He just loves Queensland, and he loves Australia."
Since completing his two-match suspension for going on a bender before his country's disastrous opening one-day international against Bangladesh in Cardiff, the 30-year-old has dramatically demonstrated his importance to Australia's one-day fortunes. It is no accident the Australians have not lost a game since his return. Symonds has spectacularly fulfilled the promise held for him since his debut as a freakishly gifted but inconsistent batsman in 1998 and, despite drily expressing a desire to face his own off spin for a living, has become the reliable all-rounder Australia had hoped Victoria's Ian Harvey might be for the past decade.
No one ever doubted his athleticism, and his cat-like movements in the field are breathtaking enough in their own right. It has been almost worth the price of admission just to watch Symonds chase a ball to the boundary, not to mention the 192 runs he has walloped cleanly in the four matches since his ban.
"We all know how dangerous and damaging he can be in the one-day game. He strikes the ball cleanly, he's great in the field and he can give you some very handy overs. He's vital to our side," said the Australian captain Ricky Ponting after Symonds helped finish off Thursday's match against Bangladesh in Canterbury.
There was no romance, however, about Symonds' return to the county he played for last season, after his clash with Ed Smith, the intellectual who played three Tests for England in 2003. Symonds and Robert Key were seen as the ringleaders in refusing to recognise Smith's captaincy after the full-time skipper, David Fulton, was injured. Later, when Fulton made Symonds captain for the Twenty20 competition, Symonds dropped Smith from the team. In Kent circles, Symonds was admired as a cricketer but will not necessarily be remembered fondly.
"In hindsight, I probably might have given him too much power and he left out Ed," said Fulton, who wanted Symonds to play at Kent because his "in-your-face style" would add an edge to the club's far less combative culture.
"I wanted someone like him in my team. On the field, he could win games with the bat or the ball, and of course he is one of the best fielders in the world. He's always in the game, even if he hasn't got any runs.
"Their personalities just clashed. Ed got double first at Cambridge University writing in history and if there was a heated philosophical debate, really there was only going to be one winner. But Symmo has good gut instincts about cricket, and a good feel about people." "He's a man of few words . . . His was a laddish kind of humour, taking the micky out of his teammates in an affectionate way. At times, he spoke honestly, and sometimes that meant a bit abrasively, and I didn't have a problem with that."
While Symonds is considering remaining in England after the one-day internationals for a short-term county contract, he will not be returning to Kent. "He called things as he saw them but he didn't always cover himself in glory," said Fulton, who said there were no lingering hard feelings and that, despite his enjoyment of a drink, Symonds did not overstep the line.
"There were times when you suspected he had had one or two beers too many the night before, but that was when he would work a bit harder and turn in his best performances. When he's made 140 and taken five-for, it's hard to point the finger.
"He's got no fear, he's got confidence in his ability, he is a team man and when he's got a point to prove, he is even more dangerous. He was reprimanded by the Australian team, quite rightly by the sound of it, but since then he has put in performance after performance."
Symonds' spectacular record since his groundbreaking 143 not out against a furious Pakistan attack at the Wanderers ground in 2003, when he was under enormous pressure to justify his World Cup place, speaks for itself.
Maher is convinced Symonds would make the most of another shot at Test cricket if the selectors are ever willing to revisit the two-match experiment that fell flat in Sri Lanka last year. Certainly, the ambition to represent his country in both forms of the game burns strongly within Symonds, who spoke with primal honesty about feeling "like I had my insides ripped out" after the disciplinary ban.
"I would be really comfortable if he was in the Australian top six," Maher said. "He's an amazing athlete, and he's so instinctive he can smell something happening. He doesn't think much about what he does but it just comes to him."
Filed under confrontations on field, cricket and life, performance, player selections