Australia’s rise in the early part of the last decade (2000-2010) has got to do a lot with their superb fielding. And in Andrew Symmonds and Michael Clarke, two formed the core of the Aussie fielding unit with skipper Ricky Ponting leading the side. Subsequently, these two grew very close only to have a fallout. Almost 15 years later, Symmonds, who gained quite a popularity in India for his role in Monkeygate, revealed that maybe money had played a role. He said that being the second-highest paid at IPL auctions made Clarke jealous which eventually led to the fallout.
“We became close. When he (Clarke) came into the side I used to bat with him a lot. So when he came into the side I really looked after him. That built a bond.”
“Matthew Hayden said to me — when the IPL started, I got a pretty penny to go and play in the IPL — he identified it as there was a bit of jealousy that potentially came into the relationship (with Clarke) there,” Symonds told Brett Lee in the Brett Lee Podcast, as quoted by Fox Sports.
“Money does funny things. It’s a good thing but it can be a poison and I reckon it may have poisoned our relationship. I’ve got enough respect for him to probably not go into detail about what was said. My friendship with him is no longer and I’m comfortable with that, but I’m not gonna sit here and start slinging mud,” Symonds said further.
Michael Clarke, who led Australia to the World Cup in 2015, remains vocal about Symmonds’s unprofessional behaviour, citing an incident where he turned up drunk to play for Australia. “Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I’m sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership,” Clarke wrote in his 2015 Ashes Diary. “This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It’s pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks.”
