A talented left-hander who failed to live up to his promise, Symes' career was ended when he was implicated in the match-fixing scandal in South Africa's T20 tournament in the 2015-16 summer.

Symes' creative strokeplay, quick feet and excellent hand-eye coordination saw him earmarked for success as a schoolboy. He attended St John's College, the alma mater of Clive Rice, and was playing first-team club cricket at a young age. He played in South Africa's under-19 side at the 2006 age-group World Cup in Sri Lanka. In the following season, he was the leading run-scorer in the provincial three-day competition, which his team, Gauteng, won. Symes scored 847 runs in eight matches at 70.58, which included three hundreds and four fifties but he could not break into the Lions side.

He signed as an overseas professional in Scotland and played in the Lancashire Leagues but it was only in later seasons that Symes made more regular franchise appearances, mostly in limited-overs cricket. His left-arm spin allowed him to play as an allrounder but even with the additional skill, he could not nail down a regular place. On August 1, 2016 Symes, was banned for seven years for failing to disclose a payment which he knew or ought to have known breached the anti-corruption code.
Firdose Moonda