Symonds justifies Ashes non selection

In one crazy moment Andrew Symonds illustrated why he has been omitted for the Australian Ashes squad. Australia announced that the all-rounder has been sent home from their Twenty20 squad following an “alcohol related incident”. The loss of the powerful all rounder is a huge loss for Australia for the tournament.

Symonds was on a final warning from CA after 12 months of disciplinary incidents. The incident that led to his withdrawal is said not to be serious but is the “final straw” according to Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland. There is now also a strong possibility that this latest incident will lead to a withdrawal of his central contract and effectively finish his international career. The controversy in Symonds’ career dates back to June 2005 when he turned up drunk to an one day defeat to Bangladesh. From then on there are countless number of offences. Read the rest here.

The loss of Symonds is a blow to their Twenty20 hopes. His powerful stroke making is a useful asset to Australia in the middle of the innings. He enters the tournament on the back of a successful (and trouble free) stint in the IPL, where he scored 249 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 150. He is a player that can take a game away from the opposition through his brutal hitting.