Former Australia player, the swashbuckling Andrew Symonds died in a car crash yesterday night.
The car had rolled off Hervey Range Road near Alice River Bridge.
Symonds was just 50 kilometres away from Townsville when the incident happened.
Emergency services tried their best to revive him but he succumbed to his injuries.
Lachlan Henderson, Chairman of Cricket Australia confirmed the news via a press release.
He added that their thoughts and sympathies are with Symonds’ family, teammates and friends during this dark hour.
Australia have lost yet another gem after Shane Warne and Rod Marsh who both passed away last month.
Symonds was truly a fan favourite. He played 26 Tests, 198 ODIs and 14 T20Is in a career spanning from 1998 to 2009.
He was a complete package player for Australia who was aggressive with the bat, a great fielder and a dangerous bowler.
Symonds was instrumental in Australia’s two World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
Although born in Birmingham, Symonds could have played for England, but he refused, instead choosing to play for Australia.
He was also involved in the Monkeygate Scandal with Harbhajan Singh during the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Symonds’ ODI debut for Australia came in November 1998 but it was the 2003 World Cup where Symonds truly came to the fore as he smashed a 143* from 125 balls against Pakistan.
He even enjoyed the T20 format although it came in the latter half of his career.
Symonds played two seasons for the now-defunct IPL franchise, Deccan Chargers and helped them win the title in 2009 under Adam Gilchrist’s captaincy.
After he retired from all forms of the game in 2012, Symonds chose the career of a commentator and was always present for Australia’s home season as well as for the Big Bash League.
