DUBAI // Australia's coming generation of cricketers can only benefit from being "at the coal-face" alongside the troubled all-rounder Andrew Symonds, according to the former Test player Rod Marsh. The renaissance of Symonds as an international cricketer will begin at Dubai Sports City's new cricket stadium later this month, after he was recalled to the Australia squad yesterday, along with paceman Brett Lee, for their series of limited-overs matches against Pakistan in the UAE. They play ODIs in Dubai on April 22 and April 24 and in Abu Dhabi on April 27, May 1 and May 3. The two teams also meet in a Twenty20 match in Dubai on May 7.
Following the recent retirements of a raft of senior players, Australia are undergoing a period of transition. With Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Mitchell Johnson also sitting out the trip, the squad has a distinctly youthful appearance. Yet Marsh refutes the idea that the inclusion of the notoriously volatile Symonds, 33, could have a detrimental effect on a new group of impressionable youngsters.
"The best example anyone can set is to play really good cricket," said Marsh, the former Australia wicket-keeper, who is the director of coaching at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Sports City. "Young players need to be in a team with experienced players who are playing good cricket, which accelerates their progress. "His behavioural problems have been well documented. But all I know is, from a cricket perspective, if Andrew Symonds is playing his very best cricket then, as a young bloke, I would like to be at the coal-face with him, because I would learn a hell of a lot. That is the important thing."
The tour of the UAE will be the England-born all-rounder's first with Australia since he was suspended following a series of off-the-field incidents. His career has been punctuated by a variety of on-field highs, which have often followed by lows away from the pitch, and this season has been particularly troubled. He was sent home from Darwin last August for going fishing instead of attending a team meeting. Two separate incidents in Brisbane followed and he was also censured after making derogatory comments about the New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum in a radio interview. After his travails, Australia's cricket bosses ordered him to undergo an extensive rehabilitation programme, and he has since attended counselling sessions.
However, Symonds is said to have become disaffected with the attention now being paid to his private life. Some of his senior colleagues at Queensland Bulls have suggested he has been contemplating walking away from the game. However, his value to Australian cricket should not be in question, according to Marsh, who added: "He is an explosive player and I think the Australian team are better when he is fit and available.
"He can turn a game very, very quickly. In the shorter version of the game he has done some wonderful things and even in Test match cricket he is a preferred player if all is well." Andrew Hilditch, Australia's chairman of selectors, said Symonds will determine his own future in the international game. "At his best Andrew is a dynamic one-day player with an outstanding record for Australia," said Hilditch. "It will now be up to him to seize this opportunity."
pradley@thenational.ae
