Andrew Symonds: Martyrdom in a Corporate Redneck Wonderland

Australian society from the very first day of settlement has possessed, some would say encouraged, a strong anti-authoritarian streak and it is unsurprising that the national cricket sides have had their fare share of men that are indignant to the whims and wishes of their so-called masters.

The history of cricket is littered with Australian players expressing their distress at administrators often at tremendous personal cost, beginning with the first Test ever played in 1877 when Australia’s premier fast bowler, Fred Spofforth, refused to play in protest at what he believed was partisanship and corrupt practices within the selection committee.

Even cricketing saints like Victor Trumper, together with Warwick Armstrong, Clem Hill and several others, felt such disgust at the conceit of administrators that they refused to tour England to contest the ambitious Test match tri-series of 1912 which included three Tests against South Africa and a similar number to decide the Ashes.

The indifferent administrators of the time called the players bluff sending a second string team and Australia returned home empty handed after being dismissed for a paltry 65 at The Oval in the final Test.

The pattern continued unabated from decade to decade with famous names like Victor Richardson, Bill O’Reilly, Stan McCabe, Keith Miller, Ian Meckiff, Rod Marsh, Ian Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Greg Matthews, Dean Jones, Shane Warne and many others, all having disputes with cricketing administrators who chose to ignore their annoyances or apologies and instead recklessly decided to wield their undisputed power.

The latest victim of the administrators’ wrath, Andrew Symonds, banned from the Australian team for the spurious reason of not attending a meeting, has much in common with his recalcitrant cricketing forebears.

He is a straight shooter, often answering questions with a direct unadulterated honesty, he possesses remarkable cricketing talent and his deeds on the field have the opposition lamenting, even fearing, his participation.

Andrew’s former Queensland and national coach John Buchanan, a man nicknamed The Professor for his attention to detail and innovative technologies and reasoning, produces a DVD for each individual player at the end of every day’s play with a document and video for study in preparation for the next.

Buchanan soon noticed that Symonds’ laptop was missing and that his DVDs were left in the nearest bin and rather than force him to comply, he conceded that his analytical methods were not the best way to proceed with a player as unique and as headstrong as Andrew. Instead, Buchanan allowed him to have a beer and go camping and fishing for he knew that the dreadlocked athlete performed at his best when left to his own innocent devices.

Symonds famously overstepped the line in Cardiff in 2005 and was duly punished by his coach and it should be remembered that he hasn’t transgressed where alcohol is involved since.

Adopted as a baby, Andrew was raised in the redneck wonderland of Far North Queensland and he no doubt was exposed to racism at a young age. It is the measure of the man that he has kept it private never wanting to appear the victim but when he believed he was racially vilified by sections of the crowd in India and then on the field in Sydney he asked his fellow players and the administrators of the game for their assistance in ridding cricket of this ignorant and ugly blight.

He was promised much and yet little was delivered except a slur on his own character. Absurdity and injustice are well known to people with an abundance of melanin in Australia and for Symonds’ to be made the criminal when he was the perceived victim caused him to lose faith in the administrators and I expect some of his more sycophantic team mates.

It is rumoured that the selectors wanted the Queenslander chosen for India and later to replace Phil Jaques who returned to Sydney recently for treatment but James Sutherland, head coatholder at Cricket Australia, is refusing Symonds admission to the team until he completes a corporate re-education program. I suspect that the process is akin to a forced mental castration of a character like Symonds and if his form and demeanour for Queensland are any indication it is doing his cricket more harm than good.

A cricket team like any organisation needs diversity amongst its people to thrive. Different views and lifestyles are healthy for in difference, as long as there is respect, lies strength. Presently, the Australian team, with their corporate haircuts, designer luggage and waxed chins, chests and backs appear more like a team of accountants than a tough world beating cricket side.

Without individuality and a sense of larrikinism, something Andrew Symonds naturally exudes, the team is one dimensional in character. Although cricket is a difficult technical pursuit at the highest level often the best players are those that are charismatic, instinctive and mentally unencumbered.

Most successful teams have a talismanic player, a man who invariably produces something special when his team needs it most. Without Warne and Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds has filled this role in the field and with the bat admirably and successfully.

Despite the hurt, confusion and disappointment Symonds’ has endured, his Test batting average in the last 12 months is 77.70, a quarter century an innings more than Hussey, and on several occasions he has played vital innings in restoring Australia’s position in matches after the top order has failed.

There can be little doubt that the Australian team without the dynamic Symonds is a poorer outfit. He is regarded as the world’s best fieldsman, he scores runs when they are needed most and his variety in bowling styles offer the team options that they do not have without him.

Unfortunately, Andrew Symonds’ international career may have come to a premature end because of the neglect and arrogance of cricket administrators and the lack of leadership and understanding inherent in the current Australian management structure.

It’s not the first time that those that are trusted with protecting the players and the sport have failed in their duties and history proves that it certainly won’t be the last.

Tomorrow: An open invitation to our readers to email a contribution. Don’t be shy, many of you have fine cricketing minds and it is a shame to have all that considered opinion and knowledge cluttered within the comments.