PERTH - More than a decade after famously turning down the chance to play for England, Andrew Symonds is set to re-launch his test career for Australia.
PERTH - More than a decade after famously turning down the chance to play for England, Andrew Symonds is set to re-launch his test career for Australia.
The burly Queenslander has grown tired of saying he is a "fair dinkum Aussie" but the issue of that England snub will not go away.
Back in 1995, the all-rounder who was born in Birmingham, had impressed the England hierarchy with some blistering batting for Gloucestershire, including a world-record 20 sixes in one game.
But he rejected the chance to go on an England A tour and declared his allegiance to Australia, the country his family emigrated to when he was only two years old.
He has no regrets about his choice and snapped at a news conference at the Waca cricket grounds when a newspaper journalist reopened old wounds.
Asked how seriously he had considered playing for the country of his birth, the 31-year-old replied: "Not very. I'm sitting here as an Australia player. Do we have to go over it every single time?"
That desire to wear the Baggy Green cap - he even wears it in training in Perth - has both inspired and hindered Symonds in his international career.
Though he has played some stunning innings for the world champions in one-day cricket, he has struggled to establish himself in the test arena. - BBC
Testing time for Symonds
PERTH - More than a decade after famously turning down the chance to play for England, Andrew Symonds is set to re-launch his test career for Australia.
PERTH - More than a decade after famously turning down the chance to play for England, Andrew Symonds is set to re-launch his test career for Australia.
The burly Queenslander has grown tired of saying he is a "fair dinkum Aussie" but the issue of that England snub will not go away.
Back in 1995, the all-rounder who was born in Birmingham, had impressed the England hierarchy with some blistering batting for Gloucestershire, including a world-record 20 sixes in one game.
But he rejected the chance to go on an England A tour and declared his allegiance to Australia, the country his family emigrated to when he was only two years old.
He has no regrets about his choice and snapped at a news conference at the Waca cricket grounds when a newspaper journalist reopened old wounds.
Asked how seriously he had considered playing for the country of his birth, the 31-year-old replied: "Not very. I'm sitting here as an Australia player. Do we have to go over it every single time?"
That desire to wear the Baggy Green cap - he even wears it in training in Perth - has both inspired and hindered Symonds in his international career.
Though he has played some stunning innings for the world champions in one-day cricket, he has struggled to establish himself in the test arena. - BBC
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