Andrew Symonds - International Career

International Career

Although Symonds was originally qualified to play for England due to it being the country of his birth, 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.

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.

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 back he found himself under pressure to justify his place in the team. In the Boxing Day Test Symonds faced his biggest challenge when arriving at the crease with Australia in deep trouble at 5/84. After a slow start to his innings he proceeded to score his first Test century, combining with his good friend Matthew Hayden to put on a 279 run partnership and bringing up the century with a six. Symonds was finally dismissed for 156.

Although selected in Australia's 15-member World Cup squad he was unavailable for selection for the first few matches because he ruptured his biceps while batting against England on 2 February 2007 in the Commonwealth Bank Tri Series. Surgery was performed and Symonds underwent extensive physical rehabilitation. As a result he missed the remainder of that tournament as well as the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand while Australia suffered their longest losing streak in over a decade. Symonds remarkably made a relatively quick recovery after returning for Australia's win in their last preliminary World Cup match against South Africa. He bowled the final ball of the 2007 Cricket World Cup that was hosted in the West Indies.The final was contested between Australia and Sri Lanka and was shortened to 38/36 overs per side due to rain throughout the day. Even the final few overs of the Sri Lanka innings were played in almost darkness.