Andrew Symonds is arguably the most useful cricketer of the modern day one day international cricket. He is a different breed altogether. A dark horse in more ways than one, ‘Roy’ as he is affectionately known, is quite a handful when it comes to batting, bowling or throwing himself on the field. Insofar as one-day cricket is concerned, Symonds is only rivaled by the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Freddie and perhaps Jasques Kallis. But what makes this Queensland larrikin marginally better is his ability to excel in all the three faculties of cricket. He does what Robin Singh dreamt to do for India and what Chris Cairns did so beautifully for the Kiwis over the years. He can bat at any number, Bowl spin as well as seam, field anywhere and has one of the strongest arms in international cricket. With Ricky Ponting at point, Symonds in the covers and Michael Clark at extra, Australia are virtually impossible to be pierced through the offside. Such is the utility of Roy in one-day international cricket. He is ‘the total cricket package’.

Symonds is a product of modern day cricket. The cricketing adage, ‘To mix caution with aggression’ goes out of the window when he is at the batting crease. ‘No adulteration, pure aggression’ is his funda. Symonds did struggle to cement his place in the Australian side in the early part of his career. But his breakthrough performance could not have come at a better time – with Australia struggling at 86 for four in the opening match of the 2003 World Cup, Symonds blazed away to an unbeaten 143 off only 125 balls to end the Australian innings at 310 for 8. He, then became a permanent fixture in the Australian one-day team and came up with a string of solid performances with the bat, ball and also changed the course of matches with his preposterous fielding. His ability to be extremely strong even on his ‘wrong side’ and invariably hit the ‘target’ makes him an outstanding fielder.

Symonds is predominantly a front foot player who favours the leg-side and hits the cricket ball with extreme power. His ‘big stride’ not only helps him with the leg before decisions but also gives him more ‘reach’ to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps. Symonds can hit sixes at will, playing for Gloucestershire in 1995, Symonds scored 256, an innings that contained a first-class record of 16 sixes. With a relatively short backlift he can wind up beautifully and make good use of his ungainly bulk. He is incredibly powerful and goes very hard at the cricket ball; playing ‘early’ and trying to hit the ‘wrong ball’ have often led to his dismissal. Like all Australians he enjoys the ball coming on to the bat and looks by far at home facing the seamers as against facing the spinners. Symonds is vulnerable against quality pace as well as spin bowling and is already ‘sorted out’ in test cricket. But in one-day cricket, with only one bouncer per over, fielding restrictions, limited overs per bowler and shorter boundaries, the game is exactly designed for Andrew Symonds. His batting might not be easy on the eye but it is mighty effective. The testimony of this fact is that Symonds has scored over 10,000 runs in first class cricket with almost 50 centuries at that level!

He defines modern day one-day international cricket. The 2007 Cricket WorldCup is just around the corner, with the pitches favouring the batsman and the grounds becoming smaller by the day, he is one player on whom I would certainly bank on. His handy bowling ability and exceptional fielding skill is only a value addition. We need to watch out for this dark horse in the future.

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