Australia's stand-in captain Michael Clarke thinks Andrew Symonds owes a debt to national selectors for choosing him for the one-dayers against Pakistan despite a poor domestic form and off-field controversies and now he should repay it by strong performance.
Australia's stand-in captain Michael Clarke thinks Andrew Symonds owes a debt to national selectors for choosing him for the one-dayers against Pakistan despite a poor domestic form and off-field controversies and now he should repay it by strong performance.
Symonds had undergone counselling to deal with a series of off-field controversies including the gone-fishing episode, Brisbane pub brawl and using of crude language on Kiwi Brendon McCullum.
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He had also undergone knee surgery in between. Symonds averaged just 15.15 with the bat for Queensland Bulls in eight first-class matches and struggled for runs in the one-day domestic competition, but Clarke expects the talented all-rounder to justify his selection.
"He comes into the group as every other player that walks back into the team. Cricket Australia have made it clear that he was right to come back and as captain I've tried to make him as welcome as possible. I know all the other guys have as well. He'll be treated like everybody else.
"They (selectors) have shown faith on him by re-selecting him for this tour. Everybody knows he's a wonderful player when he's playing his best cricket," Clarke said.
"This is probably a chance for him to repay selectors for showing plenty of faith in him. It's great that his body's in good nick and that he's come back and he's in good spirits," Clarke was quoted as saying by Australian Associated Press.
With Australia heading to England for the Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes tour, Clarke said Symonds needed to seize this opportunity.
"I don't know if it's an Ashes trial, but we've got lots of cricket coming up, we've got Ashes series, we've got ICC Champions Trophy, we've got some big one-dayers back in India, then we're heading towards the 2011 World Cup," he said.
"It's an important stage in his career to see firstly how his body is and obviously get some form under his belt."
Clarke said it was up to the all-rounder to decide whether he also needed to prove anything off the field, after disciplinary lapses resulted in him being removed from the team to have counselling.
"That's probably a question for Symo," Clarke said when asked whether Symonds needed to prove he had changed his ways off the field.
Symonds' troubles began when he was sent home from Darwin last August when he went fishing instead of attending a team meeting.
Clarke was involved in that decision as he was also acting captain during Australia's series against Bangladesh. Symonds returned to the side last November, but his international career was further interrupted when he needed knee surgery after the Boxing Day Test against South Africa.
He was then sent for further counselling for using crude language to describe New Zealand's Brendon McCullum during a radio interview in January this year.
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