Sydney: Former Australia cricketer Andrew Symonds, an all-rounder in the truest sense of the term, and a two-time World Cup winner, has died at the age of 46 in a tragic car accident, leaving Australian cricket in mourning once more.
Spin legend Shane Warne and former wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh had died within hours of each other in March.
Symonds was driving alone late on Saturday night about 30 miles from his home in Townsville when, according to Queensland police, his car ‘left the roadway and rolled’. Emergency services were unable to revive him. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
In the words of a cricket columnist, Lawrence Booth, Symonds combined merciless batting power with a canny mixture of medium-pace and off-spin, and was a predatory presence in the covers. As news spread of his death, social media was quickly awash with compilation videos of his greatest direct-hit run-outs.
According to Booth, born in Birmingham, Symonds was adopted when only 12 weeks old and soon migrated to Australia. But he was to be soon a regular in county cricket and in 1995 hit 16 sixes in an innings for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan. The record stood for
27 years before being broken by England's Ben Stokes last month.
England’s attempts to claim him as one of their own – they even tried to select him for a tour of Pakistan – came to nought as Symonds considered Australia his home.
He helped Australia win the ODI world Cups in 2003 and 2007 and was one of the key members of Australia's Test side in the 2000s.
"Australian cricket has lost another of its very best. He was a cult figure for many and treasured by his fans and friends,’’ Cricket Australia chairman Lachlan Henderson said.
One of his greatest moment on the cricketing field came when he blasted 143 off 125 balls after coming on to bat with Australia at 86 for four against Pakistan in the opening ODI of the 2003 World Cup.
Symonds scored 5088 runs, including six hundreds, in his ODI career since making debut in 1998. He also featured in 14 T20Is and averaged 48.14, besides playing in the IPL for now-defunct Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians in the final stages of his career.
He had a career-best 162 against India at Sydney in 2008. The Sydney Test, however, went on to become the most controversial moment of his career due to the 'Monkey Gate' scandal involving India spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Symonds, lovingly known as 'Roy', also had his share of controversies. He was axed from the two ODIs during Australia's tour of England in 2005 after he turned up drunk for a match against Bangladesh.
Three years later, he missed a team meeting after going for fishing in Darwin and was sent back home. Another disciplinary issue saw him being axed from Australia's squad in England on the eve of the 2009 T20 World Cup, which ended his career with Cricket Australia cancelling his contract soon after.
