'I felt capable in Sri Lanka' - Symonds

While Andrew Symonds is a shoo-in for Australia's one-day side, he has reason to be anxious about his Test place. That's because his form during the Test series in Sri Lanka wasn't up to scratch, and the selectors made it clear that they weren't convinced about his ability in the longer version of the game. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Symonds betrayed worry but remained hopeful.

Symonds's tour of Sri Lanka was a mixed bag. He averaged 105 in the one-day games, often providing a late, explosive boost to the scoring, but struggled in the Tests that followed. Scores of 0, 24, 6 and 23 gave the management enough reason to remove him from the side, and when the annual contract meeting came up "the comment was that they're [the selectors] not convinced ... of me at Test cricket", said Symonds. He disagreed, believing his form in Sri Lanka was good, and things just didn't go his way.

"I thought I got a couple of bad decisions," he said, "which doesn't help in your first couple of Tests. But given another opportunity I wouldn't go about it any differently. I just have to hope the cookie crumbles my way, maybe, and that I convert once given an opportunity."

He admitted being disappointed with the experience in Sri Lanka, and wondered if he would ever play Tests again. "I'm a bit disillusioned after the Sri Lanka thing. I was in really good form there ... in one-day cricket, then I was selected for Test cricket, then it was sort of there one minute and now I feel as though it's possibly quite a long, long way away for me again."

Symonds indicated that, barring the feedback he received at the contract meeting, he didn't know how his performance had been received. "I don't know how other people have seen it, the selectors or the other players, I haven't really spoken to anyone about it. But I feel very capable; I felt capable in Sri Lanka."