Andrew Symonds retires from all forms of fishing.

Here’s to Symonds, the original cricket liquor baron. The father of Keiron Pollard, countless T20 beasties, and I dunno-what-I-did-last-minute.

Some reactions on his retirement:

Bhajji - "we have both put our differences and cricket behind"   

Read as – “I’m not responsible”

Sachin – “No, I didn’t hear…oh, has he retired?” 

Read as – “I’m not responsible”

Clarke – “We had some good times…”  

Read as – “I’m not responsible”

Booze  – “he says he told me when we went out drinking, but it was me who told him when we went out drinking” 

Read as “I’m responsible”

I don’t know, and I don’t really care why Symonds has retired now. For me, something in him snapped after that run in with his one-time buddy. Maybe Clarke was just there, wrong place, wrong time. If it wasn’t Clarke, it would have been someone else. Bhajji made it easier, for Symonds to find a blame-target. It wasn’t about what Bhajji said, Symonds was eagerly waiting on the edge; finally a word pushed him over.

Then the alleged injustice that followed pushed him further. Sachin’s word against his.

It’s a shame, not today, but when his demons won over his cricket.

Symonds was a crazy. After years of dull-head cricketers, here he was, the great comic book cricketer. When Ponting spoke in a post match, I yelled a verbal streak – “Bring back Symonds”

Aussies, Indians, Swiss, they all stared at me like I was some kind of crazy. That was Symonds for me, unpredictable enough, to unsettle me, to unsettle them, even when he wasn't playing.

He wasn't about numbers, averages, runs, scores, he was about unsettling. The key to doggy-style the bowling, Richards had it, Viru had it, Roy had it.

What next, a Gibbs’ retirement? Yeah, take his drinking buddy while you’re at it.  

Tweets @BoredCricket

Andrew Symonds will join us for a drink and chat later tonight. OK, maybe just a drink.

Andrew Symonds retired because he was off-stumping outside fish.
Not being able to drink during matches real reason for retirement - Andrew Symonds
Happy Hour 4+4 at Andrew Symond's local pub
Like all Geminis, there were two sides to Symonds: drunk and wasted

Thanks Roy, cricket will be much too sober without you.