Andrew Symonds dies at 46: 5 things to know about the Australian legend

Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds died in a car accident on 14th May 2022. Symonds’ death came as a major shock to the entire world. Symonds was 46 years old at the time of death. Symonds was regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders.

At a one-day international in Lahore in 1998, Symonds made his international debut against Pakistan. He was most recognised for his 90+ strike rate in one-day international cricket.

Only a few one-day international players have scored more than 5000 runs (5,088) and claimed more than 100 wickets (133), Symonds being one of them. During his 11-year international career, the all-rounder played in 198 One-Day Internationals for Australia (ODIs).

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1. He was an adopted child

Symonds was born on June 9, 1975, in Birmingham, England, to Afro-Caribbean and Swedish or Danish parents, but was adopted as a baby. When he was three months old, Ken and Barbara Symonds, who worked as schoolteachers, adopted him. Soon after, they moved to Australia, where they resided in the country Victoria before relocating to Charters Towers in Far North Queensland.

Talking about his adoption, Symonds told The Brett Lee Podcats-

“When I was six weeks old, my mother and father went to the clinic and they applied to adopt a child. And so the way that things worked back in those days was, they got to take me home for a week and just trial me. A test drive. And I remember mum tells the story that they took me home for the week and I played up and cried and was terrible, and so they went back to the clinic and were asked, “How did he go?” and she goes, “You know, he was an angel. He was perfect. We’d like to keep him. So they signed all the paperwork and I became Andrew Symonds, going home with Kenneth Walter Symonds and Barbara Symonds as their son.”

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2. He was ‘Roy’ for his teammates

He was one of the sport’s most humorous stars, affectionately known as ‘Roy’ because his juniors coach thought he looked like Brisbane NBL star Leroy Loggins.

3. He had the option of playing for England or the West Indies.

Despite the fact that Symonds had played his age-group cricket in Australia, England wanted him to play for Gloucestershire. Because of his British birth and Afro-Caribbean heritage, Symonds could have represented England or the West Indies, but Australia was always going to be his first choice.

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4. He was one of the most expensive players in the Indian Premier League

After being the second most expensive cricketer in the auction (and the most expensive overseas player) for the inaugural IPL season in 2008, Symonds joined the Deccan Chargers for $1.35 million. In that auction, only MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, received a bigger bid.

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5. The 16 sixes World Record

Prior to making his international debut, Symonds set a record with 16 sixes in a single innings for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan in a first-class match, batting 254* off 206 balls. Colin Munro’s innings of 281 for Auckland against Central Districts in 2015 broke the record after 20 years.