Andrew Symonds Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Andrew Symonds

• Andrew Symonds was an Australian cricketer who is known for being the most controversial international cricketer. He died on 14 May 2022 in a car accident in Townsville, Queensland.

• Symonds’s birth parents belonged to different backgrounds. One of them was of African-Caribbean background, and the other was of Scandinavian descent. He was adopted at the age of three by Ken and Barbara after which he moved to Australia.

• He was interested in sports from an early age. In an interview, he talked about his interest and said,
  

  Dad was cricket mad. He’d throw balls to me five or six days a week, before school, after school. And we’d play all sorts of games inside the house with ping-pong balls and Christmas decorations.”

  

  Andrew Symonds as a child

• Symonds played his junior cricket for the Wanderers club for which he had to make a 270-kilometre return trip twice a week.

• In 1994, he became the AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder. In 1995, he was selected for the England tour of Pakistan, but he decided not to go.

• When he was a part of the Queensland state team, he scored more than 5,000 runs and took more than 100 wickets. He has played for four countries during his career including Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, and Surrey.

• During the initial phase of his international career, he was not able to make a remark as a batsman or bowler, but his fielding was praised. He was not even a part of the playing eleven at that time. He got a chance to show his game in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. His performance in the match against Pakistan was considered one of the best knocks in one-day cricket history.
  

  Andrew Symonds during the 2003 Cricket World Cup

• In 2007, crowds at the One Day Series in Vadodara, Nagpur and Mumbai were seen monkey chanting to offend Symonds. The incident was denied by the BCCI which claimed that the people were worshipping Lord Hanuman.
  

  The crowd at a cricket stadium seen monkey chanting

• In 2008, he hit a streaker during the Commonwealth Bank Series.

• In 2008, he played for Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was the second most expensive player to be bought for US$1,350,000. In 2011, he was bought by Mumbai Indians for US$850,000.
  

  Andrew Symonds playing for Deccan Chargers

• In 2008, during the August 2008 series against Bangladesh in Darwin, he was not allowed to play because he missed a team meeting and went fishing. In an interview, the captain talked about this and said,
  

  The main concern from us is Andrew’s commitment, to playing for this team and, in my opinion and I know the rest of the leadership team’s opinion, you need to be committed 100 per cent.”

• He was a big fan of the Brisbane Broncos since childhood. In 2002, when he was not able to perform well in matches, it was considered that he would switch to rugby league.
  

  Andrew Symonds playing rugby

• Reportedly, Symonds was an aggressive man. In 2008, Symonds hit a man in a club who was trying to hug him.

• In 2009, while he was drunk, he gave a radio interview and made a controversial remark about Brendon McCulluma.

• In 2011, he made a cameo in the Bollywood film Patiala House. In the same year, he appeared as a contestant on the Indian reality show Bigg Boss 5. During the show, he faced a language barrier, due to which, Pooja Misrra, had to return to the show as a translator for him. In an interview, he talked about his participation in the show and said,
  

  I have been travelling to India for so many years now for cricket. I have so many friends here, so foraying into showbiz here seemed like a natural decision.”

  

  Andrew Symonds in the movie ‘Patiala House’

  

  Andrew Symonds in the show ‘Bigg Boss 5’

• In 2012, Symonds retired from all forms of cricket.

• In 2013, Ricky Ponting, in his autobiography At the Close of Play, said that Symonds was a victim of abuse, and he was guilty that he could not help him.

• In 2018, in an interview, Yuzvendra Chahal revealed that Symonds’ wife once cooked butter chicken for him in Australia.
  

  A collage of Andrew Symonds and Yuzvendra Chahal enjoying a party

• In an interview, Stephen Gray, the writer of Symonds’s autobiography revealed that once, Symonds and two of his friends went swimming, but they went deep in water. They had to swim for more than three hours to come back to the island.

• Symonds and Michael Clarke were really good friends, but due to some reasons, their friendship was ruined. In an interview, Symonds confessed that Michael started getting jealous because of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He further said,
  

  Money does funny things. It’s a good thing but it can be a poison and I reckon it may have poisoned our relationship.”

  

  Andrew Symonds with Michael Clarke

• In an interview, he revealed that he went bald and donated his dreadlocks to the leukaemia affected children.
  

  Andrew Symonds with dreadlocks

• Symonds was called by the name ‘Roy’ by his sports coach because he liked the former Basketball player Leroy Loggins.

• The two eye-witnesses of Symonds death, Waylon Townson and his girlfriend Babetha Neliman, talked about the scene and said,
  

  When we got there we could see a car upside down with a man in it. He was partially hanging out of the motor with the country music he was listening to still playing. One of the dog was very sensitive and didn’t want to leave him. It would just growl at you every time we tried to move him or go near him.”

• After he died on 14 May 2022, to pay tribute to him, a minute’s silence was kept by the players in a match between Kent and Surrey during the 2022 County Championship and a Fishing Rods for Roy campaign was also launched keeping in view his interest in fishing. Many cricket fans in Australia kept the fishing rods and cricket balls outside their houses.
  

  Fans paying tribute to Andrew Symonds

• After his death, his sister, Louise, penned down a heartbreaking note for her brother and wrote,
  

  Gone far too soon!“Rest in peace Andrew. I wish we had one more day, one more phone call. My heart is broken. I will always love you my brother.”

  

  Andrew Symonds’s sister’s note

• In an interview, his wife, Laura talked about the demise of her husband and said,
  

  We are still in shock – I’m just thinking of the two kids. He was such a big person, and there is just so much of him in his kids. He was the most laidback person. Nothing stressed him out. He was an extremely chilled operator. So practical. He was never good with his phone, but he always had time for everyone.”

• Many Indian cricketers expressed condolence on Symond’s death. In a tweet, Virat Kohli wrote,
  

  Shocking and saddening to hear of Andrew Symonds passing. May his soul RIP and God give strength to his family in this difficult moment.”

Shocking and saddening to hear of Andrew Symonds passing. May his soul RIP and God give strength to his family in this difficult moment. 🙏🏻

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 15, 2022

• In another tweet, Sachin Tendulkar expressed grief and wrote,
  

  Andrew Symond’s demise is shocking news for all of us to absorb. Not only was he a brilliant all-rounder, but also a live-wire on the field. I have fond memories of the time we spent together in Mumbai Indians. May his soul rest in peace, condolences to his family & friends.”

Andrew Symond’s demise is shocking news for all of us to absorb. Not only was he a brilliant all-rounder, but also a live-wire on the field. I have fond memories of the time we spent together in Mumbai Indians.

May his soul rest in peace, condolences to his family & friends. pic.twitter.com/QnUTEZBbsD

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) May 15, 2022

• In an interview, he talked about his love for fishing and said,
  

  I have had a love for fishing since I can remember. My earliest memories would have been fishing for black bream in the Burdekin River.”

  

  Andrew Symonds while fishing

• He was often spotted drinking on various occasions.
  

  Andrew Symonds with his dog

• He was an avid dog lover and often posted pictures of them on social media.
  

  Andrew Symonds enjoying alcoholic beverages