Family death rules Symonds out of Top End

Andrew Symonds has withdrawn from the Queensland squad for Twenty20 and one-day fixtures this weekend following the death of his grandfather on Tuesday. Symonds, who had wrist surgery last month, was expected to return but he will instead travel to Victoria for the funeral.

Queensland will face Pakistan A in a 50-over game on Saturday and meet New Zealand A in a Twenty20 affair on Sunday. "We are disappointed for the people of Cairns that Andrew won't be attending but naturally our thoughts are with Andrew and his family," Graham Dixon, the Queensland Cricket chief executive, said.

Today's one-day match between New Zealand A and Pakistan A was abandoned as the Fretwell Park surface in Cairns was too wet for the third day in a row. The contest was already reduced from a four-day game to a pair of 50-over clashes, but despite clear conditions the teams were unable to start.

"After inspecting the venue with the umpires first thing this morning, we decided to check again at 11am to see if it had improved sufficiently for us to get underway later today," Daryl Harper, the match referee, said. "Unfortunately the improvement was minimal and we felt that our best chance of getting a full game was if we stayed off it until tomorrow." Pakistan A held a light training session on the ground in preparation for the rescheduled one-day match against New Zealand A on Thursday.