Symonds learning the price of fame

Malcolm Conn writes in the Australian that Andrew Symonds might need to take a leaf out of Shane Warne's book to learn how to cope with the intense media spotlight.

Warne was a lover, not a fighter, and the British tabloids loved him for it, time after indiscreet time. Symonds is a fighter, which can be all the more damaging, so he would do well to take on board some of Warne's hard-earned lessons about staying out of trouble and out of the spotlight. It got to the stage later in his career when Warne would forsake the bars and clubs and simply invite a few mates to his hotel room to share a bottle or two of red wine.

In the Daily Telegraph, Nick Walshaw recounts one of the stories of Symonds' lack of grace when dealing with the general public.

Andrew Symonds was downing beers at a swank rooftop party in Bangladesh when they approached him. Two Aussie backpackers whose entire salaries had been siphoned into following 11 Baggy Greens across the subcontinent. But now they were here. Invited into the inner sanctum by tour officials. Standing with beers in hand before their hero Roy.

"So, you blokes cricketers?" Symonds eventually deadpanned. A question that sent our duo into a spin about synthetic wickets, park outfields and modest exploits against mates.

"Oh," Symonds said sarcastically, "you're not Test cricketers then?" Confused, both men shook their heads. "Well, this party is for Test cricketers ... so you should probably f... off."

At what point do Aussie sports stars have the right to morph from public figure into private property?

Michael Slater writes on ninemsn that Symonds has to be prepared to make greater sacrifices if he wants to continue his international career.