Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who recently died in a car crash, would have played for England. For the unversed, Symonds was born in Birmingham and adopted by English parents who went on to migrate to Australia when the legend was a child. The right-hander could have played for the Three Lions but rejected the offer as he wanted to wear the Baggy Green.
Meanwhile, his close friend Matthew Mott has revealed that the two-time World Cup winner was desperate to play for Australia. Mott added that money never mattered to the former player as he turned down a big-fat paycheque. ‘Roy’ as he was fondly called played for Australia from 1998 to 2009. His shot to fame was the match-winning century against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup.
“He was born in Birmingham, so there was definitely a tie there. Barbara and Ken are very proud English people,” Mott said.
“For me, it got down to his moral compass, and he wanted to play for Australia, he was desperate to play for Australia. He loved Australia, he loved the bush, he loved everything about Australia.
“For him, it was never a monetary thing. There was a lot of money thrown at him, but for him it was more about that journey of trying to fulfil his childhood dreams, and nothing was going to get in the way of that.
“A lot of people would’ve gone the other way at that stage because it was very enticing. He basically had it there on a platter.
“He was actually well down the pecking order in Australia at that stage, he was struggling in first-class cricket more or less, so it was a big call to make, but that summed him up as a person.”
Mott was recently appointed at England white-ball team coach. On the other hand, Symonds was given a final goodbye from Fans, family, friends and former teammates on May 27 in Townsville.
