Andrew Symonds was an all-rounder who could turn his hand to almost anything

“I know they are going to be a handful.”

With a hint of nervousness in his voice, Andrew ‘Roy’ Symonds was about to go into battle once more only he wasn’t armed with a cricket bat or ball, but a clipboard instead.

It was during England’s warm up game against a Cricket Australia XI in Townsville and Symonds was the lunchtime host for a room full of ‘corporate’ guests on a jolly. He was nervous because he wasn’t just appearing as a guest with someone else running the show, he was in charge and it was out of his comfort zone. “I wish I could just have a couple of cold ones and watch the cricket,” he said. “I’ve got to do it, but I think some of them got started very early.”

In our 10 minute or so conversation I tried to offer some advice about how good he would be if he was just himself, and how in awe of him the room would be, because, well, so was I. He smiled and headed off to work, and when I passed the room about half an hour later, he had it in the palm of his giant hands with a belly full of laughter to go with the beers. Of course he did - after all he was one of their own. The most Aussie of Aussies, despite being born in England and emigrating with his adoptive parents as a small child.

Symonds was a great Australian cricketer, full stop. The numbers and the statistics tell part of the story as a double World Cup winner in 2003 and 2007. As a 5-0 Ashes winner in 2006/07 and the scorer of what was then a record number of sixes in an innings for Gloucestershire in 1995. But those numbers don’t tell you how he made people feel when watching him play the sport. How he inspired and impressed teenagers like me who had fallen hard for the game and just appreciated incredible skills like his.

Whether it was with the bat,