Symonds not worth the risk

Alex Kountouris, Australia's physiotherapist, does not want Andrew Symonds to play against The Netherlands on Sunday and will save him for the match against South Africa. Symonds light-heartedly told Ricky Ponting he was ready to play in the 203-run win over Scotland on Wednesday, but the captain said he was getting "seriously close" to full fitness.

However, Kountouris will stick to his plan to have Symonds back on the field in "a week or so". "[The Netherlands game] is three days away and he is not going to play in that game," he said in the Courier-Mail. "The realistic game I am still looking at is South Africa."

Kountouris said he had to be convinced Symonds could throw hard before he would be cleared. He has done fielding drills, is bowling slowly in the nets and his batting schedule has inceased since Australia landed in the West Indies.

"I want him to play as many games as possible," Kountouris said. "It's going OK but it is not worth the risk. That is too much of a risk in my view because he hasn't thrown and he hasn't batted enough."