NEWS
Follow UsFormer Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds has revealed that his relationship with Michael Clarke got worse following the launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Symonds was bought by the Deccan Chargers for USD 1.8 million, making him the most expensive overseas player, which he reckons could have led to Clarke being jealous of him.
“We became close. When he (Clarke) came into the side I used to bat with him a lot,” Symonds said on the Brett Lee Podcast.
“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.
“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 was critical of Clarke's leadership style in 2015, but the former Aussie captain hit back reminding his former teammate of a match in 2005 where he was too drunk to play.
“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.”
Symonds' relationship with Clarke was "destroyed" when he threw a drink on his face during a heated argument while on tour in the Caribbean. “I threw a drink on him. He didn’t tell me to go to bed, he said something else but I threw a drink on him and what he said to me put me into a rage,” Symonds said.
“What he said to me was nowhere near accurate and that immediate point is where he lost me and I lost him. Our friendship was destroyed in that moment.
“He’d said to me, not in these words, but he’d suggested I was a selfish player and a selfish person. The one thing I don’t consider myself to be is that and that really annoyed me.”
Symonds played 26 Tests, 198 ODIs and 14 T20Is since making his debut in 1998 at the age of 23. He last played for his country in 2009.
