Cricinfo - Players and Officials

Full name Andrew Symonds
Born June 9, 1975, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Current age 32 years 344 days
Major teams Australia, Deccan Chargers, Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Queensland
Nickname Roy
Playing role All-rounder
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak
Height 1.87 m

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	19	28	3	1031	162*	41.24	1549	66.55	2	6	108	21	14
ODIs	190	154	32	4845	156	39.71	5225	92.72	6	27	426	99	79
T20Is	13	10	4	337	85*	56.16	198	170.20	0	2	33	10	3
First-class	211	349	31	13763	254*	43.27			40	59			146
List A	407	361	50	10591	156	34.05			9	59			176
Twenty20	30	26	8	941	117*	52.27	522	180.26	2	5	108	33	14

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
Tests	19	31	1692	766	22	3/50	5/56	34.81	2.71	76.9	0	0
ODIs	190	151	5743	4796	125	5/18	5/18	38.36	5.01	45.9	2	1
T20Is	13	12	185	277	8	2/14	2/14	34.62	8.98	23.1	0	0
First-class	211		16745	8367	230	6/105		36.37	2.99	72.8		2
List A	407		11260	8960	271	6/14	6/14	33.06	4.77	41.5	2	4
Twenty20	30	28	468	674	17	2/14	2/14	39.64	8.64	27.5	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Sri Lanka v Australia at Galle, Mar 8-12, 2004 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v India at Adelaide, Jan 24-28, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	Pakistan v Australia at Lahore, Nov 10, 1998 scorecard
Last ODI	Australia v India at Brisbane, Mar 4, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	Australia v India at Melbourne, Feb 1, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1994/95
Last First-class	Australia v India at Adelaide, Jan 24-28, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1993/94
Last List A	Australia v India at Brisbane, Mar 4, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Kent v Hampshire at Beckenham, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers at Mumbai, Apr 27, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Andrew Symonds brings gusto to whatever he does, whether firing down offbreaks or mediums, hurling his ungainly bulk round the field or vigorously ruffling the bowler's hair at the celebration of a wicket. He saves his loudest grunt for his batting, where he is that rarest of modern-day creatures - an unabashed six-hitter in the mould of a George Bonnor or a Colin Milburn or a David Hookes. Batting for Gloucestershire at 20, he scythed 16 sixes in the first dig [a world record] against Glamorgan at Abergavenny, 20 for the match [another first], and then announced he couldn't care less about the milestone; he wanted only to help his team. He has been matter-of-factly demolishing attacks ever since. His flaw has been to attempt one six too many - invariably off the wrong ball.

"I used to hate watching him bat," his old coach Toot Byron once lamented. "He wasn't in control of his shot-selection ... he'd get 24 off an over and then go out on the last ball of that over." Legend has it that Symonds, a dreadlocked Queensland larrikin, once turned up barefoot and wearing a cowboy hat for a contract meeting with Cricket Australia's then-chief executive Malcolm Speed. He also graciously ruled himself ineligible for any award at the 2006 Allan Border Medal - he would have been the One-Day Player of the Year - after being suspended for turning up drunk before Australia's embarrassing loss to Bangladesh on the 2005 Ashes tour.

During almost five years in and out of the one-day side he frittered away golden opportunities galore. One day changed everything. Striding out with his team in turmoil against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, a game and tournament he never expected to play in, Symonds sculpted a masterly 143 not out in 125 balls. Until that day, he had mustered just 762 one-day runs at only 23; ever since he has averaged more than 45 and become a hero to the masses. "In the past," he admits, "I was a man without a map when I went out to bat." Now he understands his one-day role perfectly - he could have claimed to be the side's most valuable player after pounding three hundreds and taking 21 wickets in 2005-06. His impact to the limited-overs outfit was shown last summer after he ripped the tendon from his arm playing a fierce drive. Without him the team struggled to its worst losing streak in a decade. Symonds showed he was an incredibly quick healer by entering the World Cup mid-tournament and was part of his second consecutive triumph.

Born in Birmingham, Symonds could have played for England but dreamed only of wearing the baggy green. In 2004 his fantasy was fulfilled in decidedly unGabbalike surroundings: the crackling minefields of Sri Lanka. He batted gamely without looking altogether comfortable, and was dumped after two Tests. Almost two years later he received an extended run as Australia's selectors searched for an answer to Andrew Flintoff, but he couldn't consistently mirror his one-day performances. Faced with the axe, he cracked a huge six at the MCG to open his scoring in a pressure-relieving 72 from 54 balls, which included a ground record five maximums, but was dropped on the Bangladesh tour after struggling for reliable impact in the previous series against South Africa. Given another opportunity when Shane Watson was injured and Damien Martyn retired, he appeared in his first Ashes series and reached a career high in his second game with 156 at the MCG. Batting with his fishing friend Matthew Hayden, he showed he had the mindset to make it at Test level.
Cricinfo staff August 2007