Andrew Symonds once offered to take a pay cut from Cricket Australia so he could spend more time fishing, and do less corporate appearances before his tragic passing.
Courier Mail journalist Robert Craddock told Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa on Monday that the cricket legend was ‘never materialistic’ and was happy with a ‘fishing rod, a crab pot and a cold beer.’
‘As someone said to me yesterday, he’d have been perfect in the 1970s or 80s, you know, when he could really kick it around off the field,’ he said.
‘But he felt that spirit was lost in the game.
Andrew Symonds love of fishing was a secret to no one and once even offered to take a pay cut from Cricket Australia, if it meant less corporate responsibilities and appearances and presumably more free time to fish
The retired allrounder, 46, was killed at about 10.30pm on Saturday in Hervey Range, 50km west of Townsville in north Queensland, when his car left the road and rolled
‘And it was so important to him because he was never materialistic. So long as he had a tinnie, a fishing rod, a crab pot and a cold beer, that was all he wanted.
‘So he was the only cricketer I’ve ever known to ask for a pay cut from Cricket Australia. He said, ‘If you cut my wages by 20 per cent, I just want to do 20 per cent less gigs for corporate Australia’.
‘He said, “I just want to disappear up north’. He said, ‘I don’t care about the money” — which they (CA) refused to do. They said, “No, you’ve got to do it”.
‘He was a superstar. All the corporates wanted him, but he just wanted that quiet life, a man apart and a throwback to a different era.’
The iconic Aussie cricketer is survived by his wife Laura and his two children Billy and Chloe
His sister Louise wrote a powerful letter before adding it to the flowers and beer can that had been left at the crash site by heartbroken locals
Craddock shared the hilarious story of how Symonds once got in trouble because he missed a team meeting to go fishing before an ODI series against Bangladesh in 2008.
‘I love with the time he missed a team meeting in Darwin to go fishing and he was eyeball deep in trouble. They’d had enough of him,’ he explained.
‘Matthew Hayden was furious until he sent him a photo with a barramundi that he’d caught with the tagline, “Hey mate, look what you’ve missed by going to that meeting”.’
The 46-year-old cricket legend was killed when his four-wheel drive left Hervey Range Road, 50km west of Townsville, and rolled up an embankment at about 10.30pm on Saturday.
His sister Louise Symonds left a touching letter at the crash site and said she wishes she could spend ‘just one more day’ with her brother.
On Monday morning, the schoolteacher struggled to hold back the tears as she spoke with Daily Mail Australia.
‘It’s just awful,’ she said.
Tyre marks and torn-up grass are seen at the site where Symonds’ 4X4 veered off the road
A fishing lure was among the wreckage left behind following the crash west of Townsville
Asked whether she knew what her brother was doing on the road late at night, she turned away.
‘We just don’t know,’ she said.
Her letter at the crash site was placed among other tributes including flowers, a cricket ball bearing a handwritten message, and a can of Great Northern beer.
‘Gone far too soon! Rest in peace Andrew,’ the letter read.
‘I wish we had one more day, one more phone call. My heart is broken. I will always love you my brother.’
Symonds’s beloved blue heeler dogs were in the back of the red 4X4 with personalised ‘ROY’ number plates at the time of the accident. It’s the same vehicle the keen angler used to tow his boats on his many fishing trips.
Locals Babetha Neliman and her boyfriend Waylon Townson were on the scene just two minutes after the crash.
The couple found the cricket great hanging partially out of the vehicle on the passenger side and said it was still running and playing country music.
‘One of them was very sensitive and didn’t want to leave him,’ Neliman said. ‘It would just growl at you every time we tried to move him or go near him.’
‘My partner tried to get (Symonds) out of the car, to put him on to his back.
‘He was unconscious, not responsive and had no pulse.’
Symonds’ wife Laura and two young children arrived at the cricketer’s home on Monday morning, and close friends who drove the family to the property said they were all in shock.
Symonds was the only person in the car but the former cricketer’s two beloved blue heelers were also in the vehicle and survived the crash (pictured, Symonds with one of his dogs)
Motorists who discovered the cricketer on Saturday night said one of his blue heeler’s had been sensitive and ‘didn’t want to leave him’
‘[Laura and the kids] are doing as you could imagine,’ one woman said.
‘It’s just awful – he was just a great guy and the family are grieving.’
Channel 9 reporter Mia Glover told FIVEaa radio there’s speculation Symonds crashed after swerving to miss an animal.
‘One rumour that’s going around by locals is he may have swerved to miss an animal, but everything’s under investigation at the moment,’ she said.
Local man Daryl Rooker, who stopped by the scene to leave a cricket ball with a written tribute, told Daily Mail Australia that he had encountered feral pigs on the roads in the area.
‘I’ve definitely swerved to avoid pigs on the road, but in this case we just don’t know,’ he said.
The scene of the crash was still a tragic tangle of shrubs, dirt and debris on Monday.
A shattered window could be seen where Symonds’ 4WD hit the embankment, with the contents of his car strewn in the weeds.
A single fishing lure was half buried in the grass – tangled in undergrowth, cable ties and broken glass.
Mr Rooker described Symonds as a ‘great man’ who will be missed by all.
He lives near the site and was watching football when the tragedy unfolded, but he didn’t hear the smash.
‘To live just a kilometre away and turn on the news in the morning and hear that…’ he said.
‘As I grew up – he’s a bit younger, but to watch him perform – I just thought he was the best player Australia ever had.
‘Just to see him progress and play for Australia – he’s a great Australian and it’s great to see him succeed.
‘It’s sad to see another great another great cricketer go – god’s cricket team is pretty full up now.’
Houses and properties are few and far between in the sparsely populated town, leaving its long stretches and rugged surrounds blanketed in darkness at night.
Locals have flocked online to honour the sporting icon who was a beloved member of the community
But the isolated driving conditions – which may seem disconcerting to some – were one of Symonds’ key attractions to the area, he admitted in an interview in 2020.
Symonds, affectionately known by the nickname ‘Roy’, gifted by a childhood sports coach due to his likeness to former Basketball player Leroy Loggins, was an active and celebrated member of the community.
His loss has left his legions of friends he accumulated across the region he called home for the past decade reeling in grief.
Brock Roebuck used to work at The Avenue Tavern – Symonds’ local haunt – and described the ex-cricketer to Daily Mail Australia as ‘an absolute legend’.
‘Roy had time for everyone,’ he said.
‘He was everyone’s friend – you could ask him for anything and he’d be there because that what Roy was like.
‘He didn’t drink every night, but when he did he really got on it – he was a real character.’
When speaking about the moment Symonds levelled a streaker during a One-Day International match against India at the Gabba in 2008, Mr Roebuck’s eyes lit up.
‘It was the most incredible moment,’ he said. ‘Of course he didn’t mean to hurt the guy.’
Mr Roebuck said his death was a great loss and that the whole town would miss him.
Meanwhile, Abby Dobson, Symonds’ niece, penned a gutwrenching post online describing how she was ‘devastated and beyond lost for words’.
‘I wish this was all a bad dream, you were like a dad to me,’ she wrote.
‘May you rest in peace uncle Roy you were 1 in a million and had my back like no other I will forever miss you n love you with my whole heart.
Symonds’ death has shocked the world and left the nation in mourning as police work to determine why Symonds – the only person in the car – veered off the path (pictured with his niece Abby Dobson)
‘Don’t run too much of a muck up there big fella, I’ll keep doing you proud I promise.’
Alongside the post, Ms Dobson shared a collection of photos highlighting memories she will always cherish of her uncle, showing the pair betting together at the TAB, attending rodeos, drinking, and fishing.
In one chilling video shows Symonds filming himself cruising along a dirt road in his maroon ute with his two dogs in the back tray.
His two beloved blue heelers were also in the vehicle at the time of the crash, but survived.
‘Cruiser dog!’ he says from the driver’s seat after panning the camera to show the pets in the back.
Symonds was on Hervey Range Road near Alice River Bridge when the accident occurred, and he was removed from the vehicle to be treated by paramedics, who were on the scene when officers arrived.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services to revive him, Symonds died at the scene.
Inspector Gavin Oates told the Courier Mail there is no suggestion alcohol was involved, and said nearby residents were at the scene.
One of the world’s most spectacular players, he was an extremely aggressive batsman who displayed great power and timing, and his crafty off-break and medium-pace bowling claimed 24 Test wickets and another 133 scalps in one-dayers.
His career highlights include saving the 2006 Boxing Day Ashes Test for Australia with a stellar knock of 156 – his first century in the long form of the game – a high score of 162 against India in 2008, and taking a career-best 5/18 in a 2005 one-dayer.
Symonds blasts the sort of powerful stroke he was known and loved for during Australia’s 2005 match against the World XI in Melbourne
At one stage he held the world record for most sixes during a first-class match, and opened fans’ eyes to what a batter could do in T20 cricket with a century from just 34 balls during the format’s infancy in 2004.
Symonds was also arguably the best fielder in cricket, with lightning reflexes and an incredibly accurate throwing arm leaving him in equal fifth on the list of most run-outs in ODI cricket, with the fourth highest success rate.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who led the team for much of Symonds’ career, called him the best fielder he ever saw.
He sported distinctive brown dreadlocks for his entire career, as well as shielding his lips from the sun with glowing white zinc in what became his trademark look.
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