By IANS,
Melbourne : Andrew Symonds will be welcomed back with open arms by his Australian teammates.
Symonds, who makes his national comeback in Friday night’s Twenty20 exhibition match against the ACA All Stars, may be ushered back into the Test squad as early as Thursday.
Matthew Hayden is one player advocating an immediate return for his fellow Queenslander.
“I’m going to be incredibly biased and say I want to have Symo back in the side ASAP. I think as we’ve said all along, an Australian side with Andrew Symonds in it is a better side,” Hayden was quoted as saying in The Age.
“He’s a great team man and one I love, and have missed, playing cricket with for the last eight weeks.
“If he feels he’s in a position to play cricket for Australia, which I’m certain he is, then good luck. It will be open arms from this dressing room door I tell you.”
Symonds has been out of Australian team since being sent home from the one-day series against Bangladesh in early September after missing a team meeting to go fishing.
Australia’s selection panel are preparing to choose their team for next week’s first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane, with the swashbuckling all-rounder in the mix if the selectors follow a Gabba trend of picking a 13-man squad.
An out-of-touch Symonds appears unlikely to find his way into the Test eleven, but his match-winning talents and attacking flair are viewed as priceless assets after the 2-0 series defeat in India.