Do you like Andrew Symonds?

[Nishant]

I respect his abilities but I don't like him. His attitude sums up a lot of the things wrong with cricket right now, in my opinion- and that's not targeted at Australia, because it's a problem across the world.

He seems to be able to give it out but not take it- and I'm not referring to the racial incidents here, but rather to his reaction to Ed Smith's diary of the 2003 season, in which Smith pokes a little fun at him, whilst not transgressing the bounds of a team relationship, and making it very clear that he respects and admires his ability. Symonds' reaction was to refuse to obey Smith's instructions when he was stand-in captain during a game in 2004, leading to Smith being more or less forced out of the county he had played for, and dreamed of playing for, his entire life. That strikes me as quite despicable.

yep...my thoughts exactly!

 

[Prince EWS]

As I'm sure everyone on CW already knows, I love him to bits...

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah. Australian national is irrelevant - it's the cricket team you support that counts.

In which case the likes of aussie and Sameer (pup11) count as "Australian" for the purposes of this poll.

*ponders what I classify as*

 

[steds]

A gob****e imo.

 

[FRAZ]

Attitude is a different story but as a cricketer he is just amazing and that's all I can tell . His behavior is a big question mark but so are bunch of other cricketers around the world . He is way way way better than Andre Nel (Who I think gotta run into Shoaib Akhtar one day to learn an ass full of lesson ) ...
If you name the on field rashism as " positive aggression" then I guess no one beats Shoaib Akhtar .

 

[PhoenixFire]

Anyways - I dont believe Symonds and KP are that much different on/off the cricket field.

Dire call.

 

[GIMH]

Neither like nor dislike him. TBH the only thing I ever think when I see him is "he's Test-class".

 

[Prince EWS]

Neither like nor dislike him. TBH the only thing I ever think when I see him is "he's Test-class".

Dire.

 

[GIMH]

This flame-baiting stuff is exciting. The buzz of pulling it off and all. Might make a hobby about of it.

 

[Prince EWS]

This flame-baiting stuff is exciting. The buzz of pulling it off and all. Might make a hobby about of it.

Never a particularly a good idea to flame-bait a mod and then admit it, it must be said..

 

[GIMH]

Symonds is Test-class, Sinclair is **** and Test Cricket is crap because sometimes you go like, 10 overs, without a boundary!! Oh, and Watson's a wanker.

 

[Prince EWS]

Edit button looking mighty tempting at this stage.

 

[Sanz]

5 Votes for NOT AUSTRALIAN - YES, 3 of them happen to be Pakistan supporters.

Coincidence or just appreciating the Talented ?

 

[Pup Clarke]

The buzz of pulling

 

[unccricket]

the only good things about symonds are that he is a gun fielder and how he decked that streaker.

apart from that, i hate him.

 

[Top_Cat]

Seems to be a complex personality. Can be a bogan and, as Jono said, plays the game very seriously (although who are we to judge if that constitutes being too serious?) but I distinctly remember him being excellent value when mic'ed up in the 20/20 against NZ in Perth. is probably a fair bit more analytical and introspective than people give him credit for which is borne out by the fact that he was able to change his game fundamentally (from 5-over slogger to Test batsman) to make it as an international cricketer which very few people can pull off.

I think personality-wise, he suffers from poor perception because he has the unfortunate combination of being really emotional and brutally honest (surely, holding the view that players shouldn't be nice out on the field is the height of emotionalism? It's not based on reason, that's for sure). Sometimes he's really honest with himself; when asked what was different when he scored 143 in that WC game against Pakistan, said something along the lines of "I finally grew a brain." and many times he's probably a bit too brutally honest with others. I think it's clear he's from the AB school of 'tired of being a nice guy and losing, would rather be a prick and win' because, years ago when he was playing against a mate of mine in State U/19 champs and belted the SA attack for a (very) rapid double ton, was known as a really great bloke. Should have heard what people were saying about Ponting back then.....! I honestly don't think he's any more arrogant than other international cricketers, reckon he's just less capable (or inclined) to hide it.

Playing-wise, as someone already mentioned, choosing the infinitely tougher path of playing for Australia, when no-one thought he would, was a ballsy move. He's managed to overcome technical limitations to be a a decent Test bat. Combine that with his fielding and handy bowling and you have one heck of a valuable player.

 

[FRAZ]

5 Votes for NOT AUSTRALIAN - YES, 3 of them happen to be Pakistan supporters.

Coincidence or just appreciating the Talented ?

Are you categorizing us as the poll molesters ?

 

[Langeveldt]

He's given me no reason to like him, and AFAIK, he's always at the centre of some scandal or another.. Strikes me as being somewhat like an early Graeme Smith..

 

[Son Of Coco]

No, KP isn't flagrantly promoting his boganism in TV ads that I am forced to watch.

Symonds' ****iness doesn't bother me btw. You realise Akhtar is one of my favourite players ever right?

****iness/arrogance has never been an issue for me as a sports fan. Along with Shoaib I'm a fan of Warne, Yuvraj, KP, Ganguly who are all ****y dicks.

I find it interesting that being an arrogant prick doesn't matter, just don't make a dodgy TV ad! Symonds doesn't fit under my definition of what a bogan is, he's more of a country bloke, but you're as entitled to your definition as I am.

Personally, jury's out on Symonds...but I'd lean towards dislike after what's happened the last couple of years. When it's reported that your teammates are getting sick of your behaviour then things are getting bad.

 

[Top_Cat]

No, KP isn't flagrantly promoting his boganism in TV ads that I am forced to watch.

Symonds' ****iness doesn't bother me btw. You realise Akhtar is one of my favourite players ever right?

****iness/arrogance has never been an issue for me as a sports fan. Along with Shoaib I'm a fan of Warne, Yuvraj, KP, Ganguly who are all ****y dicks.

Haha, tautology?

Sounds like rhyming slang too. Could be used to describe a batsman's form; "Symmo is looking ****y dick ('in good nick') today."