Andrew Symonds was a prolific all-round cricketer. However, he had a mixed career filled with ups and downs. It was this innings that laid down the marker for his upcoming career.
Symonds was born in Birmingham but was raised in Australia. Symonds had played for his age group cricket in Australia and was also selected for their national U19 side for the tour to India. On that tour, he played alongside Michael Hussey and Brett Lee. He played against the likes of VVS Laxman. He then made his senior debut for Queensland during the 1994-95 season and served notice with an innings of 108 not out against Graham Gooch’s touring Englishmen. He was then signed up by Gloucestershire for the 1995 county season.
This knock came in a County Championship (the English 4-day competition) match against Glamorgan. A 20-year-old Symonds was consistent and had already hit three hundreds in the season when Gloucestershire travelled to the Welsh town of Abergavenny to face Glamorgan. Ironically, it was the home of Malcolm Nash - the man who was smashed for six sixes in an over by Sir Gary Sobers on 31 August 1968. The home side, Glamorgan, won the toss and elected to bat first.
Symonds walked in at 79-4 and lost skipper, Mark Alleyne, soon after. The score was 79-5 when wicketkeeper Reggie Williams joined Symonds in the centre.
From that point onwards, Symonds unleashed his fury and spared none. Hamish Anthony and SteveWatkin were now taking a pasting. Even the spinners Robert Croft and Neil Kendrick were not spared. It was a contrasting show at both ends. At one end, Symonds was going berserk, while at the other, Williams gave him obdurate support with a gritty knock. The 20-year-old was displaying his game-changing abilities with this knock and personal milestones kept coming.
As the day progressed, he kept plundering the bowlers to all parts. He reached his fourth hundred of the season and then passed 1,000 runs in the County Championship when he was on 133. In his very first season in England, he was making waves with these performances and clatter could be heard by the England team management. Williams and Symonds’s partnership had rescued the day for Gloucestershire. Ultimately, it came to an end when Williams was dismissed by Croft for 52 (135 balls).
The 213-run partnership was a huge relief and put them in sight of Glamorgan’s first innings total. Consider this: Williams had only contributed 52 out of the 213 runs. Martyn Ball did not last long and was out after scoring only two. Gloucestershire were 295-7 when Javagal Srinath walked out to partner Symonds.
Symonds also surpassed his previous best of 160. Srinath also joined Symonds in the six hitting band-wagon as Gloucestershire finished the day on 373-7 with Symonds unbeaten on 197 and Srinath on 33. A quiet Welsh town was bracing itself for history on the field of play.
On day 3 (August 25), Srinath fell early for 39. However, Symonds continued as he had recorded his first double-hundred in First-Class cricket. Kamran Sheeraz soon followed Srinath and Symonds now had to bat with the last man, Vyian Pike. Symonds kept hitting and found some valuable support from Pike, who also scored a few boundaries. Matthew Engel was present at the venue during this innings and described the record-breaking 16th six in Wisden: "I was lucky enough to be at Abergavenny to see the 16th six of Andrew Symonds’ innings sail over the outfield, a hawthorn bush and a patch of bindweed and on to a nearby tennis court, giving him a world record." He broke John Reid’s record of 15 sixes.
Ultimately, Gloucestershire were bowled out for 461, with Symonds unbeaten on 254; with 22 fours and a record 16 sixes. Symonds was in the act again in the second innings. He hit 76 off 65 balls, with 8 fours and 4 sixes. That took his count to 20 sixes in the match, which was another world record, surpassing Jim Stewart’s feat of 19. Gloucestershire collapsed though and just about managed to hold on for a draw as they finished on 293-9. It all ended in a stalemate, but Symonds’ feat had created ripples. While England were hoping to include him in the ‘A’ squad for the tour to Pakistan, Australia prayed for it's talent to come back.
A couple of events occured in the aftermath of this match. As England were tempted to pick Symonds for their ‘A’ team, there were murmurs that he wasn’t eligible for them until 1996 as he had played for Australia’s Under-19 team in 1994. However, it was later announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that he could be picked as the regulations were only introduced in October 1994 and it didn't have a retrospective effect.
Ray Illingworth, England’s then chairman of selectors, picked Symonds for England A’s tour to Pakistan. Symonds didn't take the assignment and chose Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, "If I decide my future lies with England, it will mean leaving my family, my girlfriend and all my friends in Australia."
England’s Cricketer’s Association awarded him the Young Player of the Year for 1995. Symonds did return to play for Gloucestershire in 1996. He finally made his One-Day International (ODI) debut in 1998 and donned the Baggy Green (Test call-up) in 2004.
Making his ODI debut in November 1998, Symonds was in and out of the Australia team. Until 2003, Symonds played 54 ODI's and he only got to bat 38 times. Then came the big moment, the 2003 World Cup, where he was picked ahead of Steve Waugh.
"Andrew Symonds offers us variety and match-winning potential. His fielding alone makes him stand out from the crowd and there is also the option he gives us with the ball, as he can bowl medium-pace or off-spin. As a batsman, he can score rapidly and change the course of a game."
This is how the chief Australian selector, Trevor Hohns, justified Andrew Symonds’ selection for the 2003 World Cup, despite his average returns at the international level for five years. The selection raised more eyebrows, knowing that a proven player like Steve Waugh wasn't part of this campaign.
Coming in to bat at 86-4 in Australia’s first World Cup game against Pakistan, Symonds, averaging only 23 with the bat, then notched up his first ODI hundred. His unbeaten 143 propelled Australia to a match-winning total of 310; setting the right tone for their victorious campaign. That one day proved to be the turning point in Symonds’ career.
Batting prominently in the lower middle order, the right-hander scored at an average of 45.1, striking at 91.8 - an intimidating combination - since the career-changing 143*. He scored six hundred in total, twice going past 150 and remains the only batsman to score more than two ODI scores over 150 while batting at five or lower.
The confined length of a T20 game made Symonds an inestimable asset since his bowling became more effective.
To no one’s surprise, he was the costliest overseas player in the maiden IPL auction in 2008, going to the Hyderabad franchise at $1,350,000, where his all-round contribution went largely underrated, though he played a significant part in his team’s win in 2009.
His batting was enough to make him one of the first few greats of the format. Playing in the inaugural T20 competition - Twenty20 Cup in England - Symonds clobbered 96* off 37 balls on his debut for Kent. Next season, he thumped Middlesex for a 34-ball hundred - a T20 record which stayed till 2013 when Chris Gayle mashed Pune’s bowling attack for 175*.
He overall averaged 32.4 in 93 T20's with a strike rate of 147.4, no less than gold even in modern-day T20 cricket, where the run-scoring has inflated in comparison to the times when Symonds took the format by storm.
In Test cricket though, he was always on thin ice. Before his maiden Test hundred (in December 2006), he averaged 18.5 in 17 innings. The hundred meant so much to him; he leapt up into his good friend, Matthew Hayden’s arms, in delight. The innings also ticked the dual boxes of a Boxing Day Test ton and an Ashes ton, which are a part of every Australian cricketer’s wishlist.
His second hundred, 162* at SCG against India in 2008, sowed seeds of a controversy that diverted his attention from cricket. Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh, was accused of racist comments against Symonds, addressing him as a "monkey." Harbhajan received a three-match ban and the Indian team threatened to withdraw from the tour. Consequently, the suspension was rebuked on appeal.
Former Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting, stated in his autobiography, At The Close Of Play that the outcome of the episode had a long-term effect on Symonds. He was painted as a villain when he was the victim and he didn't find any support from Cricket Australia.
A series of bad decisions followed. Symonds skipped a team meeting for fishing in August 2008. He was sent home and was ignored for the subsequent tour to India.
Later that year, he was involved in a pub brawl with a fan in Brisbane. In 2005, he missed out on the Cardiff ODI against Bangladesh due to drinking on the eve of the match. Another drinking episode (when he had agreed not to drink in public) in the week before the 2009 World T20, saw him back home a day before the start of the tournament. Australia crashed out of the tournament's first round in the "Group of Death."
He ended his career with 198 ODIs, 14 T20is and 26 Tests. His Test average was a respectable 40.6, an excellent rise from when he averaged 18.5 in his first 11 Tests before his first hundred. Breaking ties with Queensland and Cricket Australia in 2009, he continued playing T20 cricket, majorly with Mumbai Indians until the now-defunct Champions League in 2012.
Symonds unfortunately passed away on 14 May 2022 at the age of 46. It was due to a car accident.
I'm disappointed that I didn't get to see much more of him playing. I was fairly young during his playing days. He was certainly a very powerful and intimidating cricketing figure. He was taken away from the game and life far too early.