Andrew Symonds’s Australia career could be over

Australia's Andrew Symonds looks on during the game against New Zealand at an ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Oval in London June 2, 2009. Australia won the match by 7 wickket

Andrew Symonds may have played his last game for Australia after the troubled all-rounder was sent home from England in disgrace yesterday.
Symonds, 33, who has attracted as much criticism for his off-field activities as he has praise for his cricketing skills, is likely to have his offer of a new Australia contract withdrawn after being kicked out of the World Twenty20 squad in the wake of an “alcohol-related incident”.
It is believed that Symonds, who was born in Birmingham but raised in Queensland, boarded a Qantas flight from Heathrow at lunchtime as his team-mates practised at the Brit Oval. A source suggested that he was stopping off in the Far East before returning to Brisbane.
Cameron White, the former Somerset all-rounder, has replaced Symonds in the squad after the ICC technical committee gave its approval last night.
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James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said that Symonds had been removed from the 15-man squad for a series of misdemeanours. “In isolation, the breaches are not serious, but they are enough for it to be the final straw,” he said.
Sutherland had been woken in the middle of the night in Melbourne by a member of the team management who told him that, not for the first time, Symonds had been drinking when he should not have been. The player is believed to have visited a sports bar in London on Wednesday morning to watch the State of Origin rugby league match between Queensland and New South Wales, which his home state won 28-18.
While other Australia players were with Symonds, the all-rounder has been given a more restricted code of conduct than his team-mates after a string of alcohol-related offences, including arriving for a match in Cardiff in 2005 the worse for wear. He has admitted that he has a drink problem.
Symonds attended a fundraising dinner for the Professional Cricketers’ Association benevolent fund at the Garden Court Hotel in Kensington, London, on Wednesday night and was, according to those who met him, a charming dinner companion. However, his fate had already been sealed.
The Australia team leadership group of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, the captain and vice-captain, Tim Nielsen, the head coach, and Steve Bernard, the manager, recommended to Sutherland that Symonds be thrown out of the party. He was not a member of the squad for the forthcoming Ashes series.
Speaking at the Oval after practice, Ponting said that Symonds “has let himself down, let his team-mates down and let Cricket Australia down”. He said that Symonds had broken a number of commitments he had made after being readmitted to the team. “He’s been given plenty of opportunity, that’s for sure,” Ponting said.
Sutherland was in agreement. “I am disappointed in Andrew, but I am also disappointed for him after all the work he has done with Australian cricket’s support in the last year,” he said. He promised that Cricket Australia will continue to offer Symonds support, but suggested that his new 12-month contract, which is due to come into effect on July 1, could be withdrawn.
Symonds has figured in 198 one-day internationals for Australia and 26 Tests, averaging about 40 in both forms of the game. He has played county cricket for Kent, Lancashire and Gloucestershire and was part of the Deccan Chargers squad that won this year’s Indian Premier League.

Ponting himself had disciplinary problems involving alcohol when he was young, but he realised that such things were holding him back. While he respects Symonds as a player, he is frustrated at his repeated lapses. “There’s no such thing as a curfew in the Australian cricket team,” Ponting said when asked about team rules.
“You don’t need curfews around good teams. That’s what being part of the team’s all about, having respect for yourself and your team-mates.”
Ponting admitted that the situation is reminiscent of Shane Warne being sent home from the Australia squad shortly before the 2003 World Cup after testing positive for a banned diuretic. “We’ve been here before,” he said. “We’ve managed to find ways to get through a World Cup undefeated. It’s about the next guy in line coming in and making a name for himself.”
Symonds' previous offences
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This is not Andrew Symonds’s first run-in with the authorities
June 2005 Arrives the worse for wear for a one-day international against Bangladesh in Cardiff. After Australia lose he is given a two-game ban.
March 2006 Michael Clarke has to break up a fight in a South African nightclub between Symonds and a Super 14 rugby union player.
January 2008 Alleges that he has been the victim of a racist taunt by Harbhajan Singh, the India spinner, during a fractious Test in Sydney.
August 2008 Goes fishing instead of attending a team meeting before a one-day series against Bangladesh. Is sent home in disgrace and starts counselling. Admits that he drinks too much.
November 2008 Returns to the Test side but celebrates a win in Brisbane by going drinking with Australia rugby league players. Allegations made that he was involved in a confrontation with a member of the public.
January 2009: Calls Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, a “lump of s***” during a radio interview in which he appears to be under the influence. Is fined about £2,000 and left out of tour to South Africa.