Hard-hitting all-rounder Andrew Symonds was one of the most sought after cricketers in the IPL 2008 auction. He went for a whopping $1.35 million to the Deccan Chargers and was that most expensive overseas signing that year.
However, that money, Andrew Symonds feels, could have been the main instigator that “poisoned” his friendship with former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke. In the past few years, post their retirements, Symonds and Clarke have had a go at each other publicly and the statements from the all-rounder have further added fire to it.
Speaking on The Brett Lee Podcast, Andrew Symonds said that he felt Clarke may have become jealous when he bagged a lucrative IPL contract
“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,” Andrew Symonds told Lee.
“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.
“Money does funny things. It’s a good thing but it can be a poison and I reckon it may have poisoned our relationship.”
Although they are not friends anymore, Andrew Symonds said, he has plenty of respect for Clarke.
“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,” the all-rounder added.
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In his 2015 Ashes Diary, Michael Clarke revealed a couple of shocking incidents involving Symonds, when the all-rounder turned up drunk for an international game. The former Australian captain reckoned he was let down by the all-rounder who was ousted from the Aussie team when he missed a team meeting and instead chose to go fishing!
“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.”
“Some former teammates will take his side, and feed his conviction that I let him down and put ambition ahead of mateship,” Clarke wrote in My Story.
“I would say that he let me down too — that if he had understood mateship as a two-way street, he would have seen that I had to do what was right for the whole team.”
