Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds’ untimely death in an accident sent shock waves across the cricket fraternity. His team-mate Ricky Ponting recently shared an incident involving Andrew Symonds, which gave in insight into the all-rounder’s commitment towards the Australian team.
Symonds was killed in a single-vehicle accident in northern Queensland earlier this month. A funeral and a private memorial service took place on Friday (May 27) at the Riverway Stadium, which was attended by Ricky Ponting along with several other cricketers.
The former Australian skipper revealed how Symonds once had torn his ‘bicep’ while batting. However, he continued to bat with one arm before Ponting had to call him back. Ricky said:
“In a one-day series in Australia before we left for the 2007 World Cup, he tore his bicep while he was batting. We had the World Cup a couple of weeks later. Roy was trying to bat with one arm. He called the physio up, pulled his shirt (sleeves) and his whole bicep had basically dropped to the elbow joint. He told the physio, “Just push my bicep up a bit, put a tape around it and I’ll be fine!”
Some of the work Andrew Symonds did to be part of the World Cup was incredible – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting further added that he called Andrew Symonds back to the dressing. He knew how important a player he was for the team. Ponting stated that they knew Symonds was a player who could win them the world cup.
“I knew how important he was going to be for the World Cup, so I was like, ‘get him off the bloody ground!‘. It was another big decision we had to make there because it (the injury) was like touch and go. History said that he was the player we knew could win us the World Cup with his own bat. His work ethic was always there. He had his ups and downs with his fitness, but some of the work he did to be a part of the World Cup was incredible,” said Ricky Ponting.
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