Why Symonds hated international cricket
Andrew Symonds seemingly couldn’t stay out of trouble during his international career
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Symonds seemingly couldn’t stay out of trouble during his international career. In an honest and revealing interview with Andy Bull of the Guardian, Symonds says the pressures of international cricket drove him to binge drink and he wishes he had never signed that contract with Cricket Australia.
"Losing my contract didn't hurt me, because of what playing for Australia had become. I wasn't having fun anymore. I wasn't enjoying it. I felt like I was in a cage. Always under the microscope. Once I had got home from England, and everything had settled down, it was a relief."
A year on, and Symonds is able to admit how serious his problems were. "I was diagnosed as a binge-drinker. With all the things that went with international cricket there was never enough time for myself. So when I got my day off, I would just guzzle it, guzzle it like they weren't making it anymore, just binge. It was not smart."
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo