page_title: Andrew Symonds
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Andrew Symonds / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: South Africa vs Australia, Andrew Symonds batting.
context_page_description: Andrew Symonds is a former Australian international cricketer, who played all three formats as a batting all-rounder. He was an important member of two-time World Cup winning squads. Symonds is a right-handed, middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling. He is also notable for his exceptional fielding skills.
  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 His central contract was then withdrawn, and many cricket analysts speculated that the Australian administrators would no longer tolerate him, and that Symonds might announce his retirement. On 16 February 2012, Symonds announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, in an attempt to concentrate on his family life.
context_section_description: Although Symonds was originally qualified to play for England due to it being the country of his birth, and West Indies due to his ancestry, 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 been 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. For his performances in 2005, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.
  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. For his performances in 2006, he was named as 12th man in the World ODI XI by the ICC.
  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 bac
caption: Andrew Symonds batting against South Africa in 2006
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