Symonds returns to club cricket

Andrew Symonds has played his first match since his day of fishing in Darwin, turning out for his club side Gold Coast in the opening round of Brisbane's grade competition. While his Australia team-mates were departing for India, Symonds was at the little-known WEP Harris Oval in Brisbane's south-west playing his first club game since 2006.

He made a calm 30 from 52 deliveries before being caught at slip by the former Test batsman Martin Love. Symonds also picked up 2 for 25 from 8.1 overs as he took the initial small steps back towards international cricket.

"It was not too bad really but I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow," Symonds told the Courier Mail after the game. "It was nice to get out there and have a hit and run around and catch up with a few of the boys. I am looking forward to getting back into a bit of a routine at Bulls training this week."

Symonds last week practiced with Queensland for the first time since he was sent home from Darwin for the latest in a string of misdemeanours. He took a fortnight to consider his future before declaring he wanted to fight his way back into the Australia team.

He will be aiming for a return to the first-class arena when the Bulls begin their Sheffield Shield season on October 10. Symonds could also play for Queensland next weekend when they start a series of Twenty20 matches against the IPL's Kolkata Knight Riders as a warm-up to the domestic season.

However, Australia's captain Ricky Ponting ruled out the possibility of Symonds being called back into the national setup at any time during the India tour. "How quickly it happens is up to him, there's some things that by listening to him the other day he knows he now has to do and it's a matter of him going out and getting those things done," Ponting said. "I wouldn't have thought that'd be too soon."