Australia call up Symonds (21 October 1998)
AUSTRALIA have drafted Andrew Symonds, the 'willhe-won't-he?' England-born batsman, into their one-day squad for the international tournament in Bangladesh, which starts in Dhaka this weekend
21-Oct-1998
Wednesday 21 October 1998
Australia call up Symonds
By Charles Randall
AUSTRALIA have drafted Andrew Symonds, the 'willhe-won't-he?'
England-born batsman, into their one-day squad for the
international tournament in Bangladesh, which starts in Dhaka
this weekend.
The Queenslander is in the frame for his Australia debut as a
replacement for Tom Moody, Worcestershire's captain, who withdrew
with a knee injury suffered during the Commonwealth Games.
The name of Symonds is still imprinted on the minds of England's
players for having opted to play a second season for
Gloucestershire in 1996, having declined a place on the previous
winter's England A tour to keep his Australian options open.
He has a good chance at some stage of breaking into the side,
because Australia are less formidable at the one-day version
there than they are at Test cricket.
Australia will be one of the last countries to gather for the
tournament, as most of them arrive after the weekend for next
Wednesday's first-round match against India.
England, captained by Adam Hollioake, left nothing to chance by
arriving last weekend, but rain and muddy conditions have already
hampered practice before their game against South Africa on
Sunday.
Rain permitting, England play Zimbabwe today in their first
warm-up game about 30 miles outside Dhaka, with another against
Bangladesh scheduled for Friday.
Success in Bangladesh is crucial for England, as the selectors
are due to decide next month the likely squad for the one-day
series in Australia, starting in January.
Though that is a good guide to their intentions for the World
Cup, several players on the provisional list last summer, such as
the Leicestershire team-mates Ben Smith and Paul Nixon, are not
eligible for the Bangladesh event because they are
non-international players.
David Graveney, chairman of selectors, said: "We had an agreement
with the International Cricket Council to only choose players who
had already played at one-day international level."
England's party for the tour of Australia are due to fly out from
Heathrow today for what Alec Stewart regards as the biggest of
all challenges.
Australia squad (for Bangladesh t'ment): *S Waugh, M Waugh, M
Bevan, -A Gilchrist, D Lehmann, D Martyn, R Ponting, A Symonds, G
Robertson, B Young, B Julian, M Kasprowicz, D Fleming, G McGrath.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)