Ponting spoke with Isa Guha about the grief and shock caused by Symonds’ death on the most recent episode of The ICC Review, and the Australian champions stick to their belief that the Queenslander was the one of the best player in his prime. “There was a period of four or five years where he was arguably the best white-ball cricketer in the world and he was probably the best fielder the game has ever seen,” Ponting said.
“He could bowl medium pace and off-spin and bat brilliantly in the middle order, he was one of the most dangerous and one of the best finishers.
“Any team that I could have picked for Australia if I were the captain – be it a Test match, an ODI or a T20 – Andrew Symonds would be in my line-up every time.”
Ricky Ponting said that Symonds’ fielding was what set him apart from other greats over the years.
Ponting said, “You could have put him anywhere on the field and he would field for you with all his might.”
“His lateral speed, his pace on the field, his stump hitting, all these things came together as a very complete package as a fieldman.
Symonds rose to prominence in 2003 during Australia’s successful World Cup campaign, a tournament in which Ponting was captain.
Champion spinner Shane Warne missed the entire tournament due to a one-year ban for a positive drug test, while leading batsman Darren Lehmann was ruled out of the opening game due to suspension.
But Symonds scored 326 runs for Australia in the tournament and really paved the way for the team with an unbelievable 143* against Pakistan in the opening match of the tournament.
Ricky Ponting said, “That tournament was his arrival on the world stage as a serious international player.”
“That was a good innings in the World Cup that you’ll probably see and especially in the first game of the tournament which was a pretty tough lead in that game.
“It was important for him, but we needed a similar innings in the first game to make our mark in the tournament against a very good Pakistan team.
“It was a perfect start for us and an even better start for Simo.”
But Ricky Ponting believes that Symonds’ unbeaten 91 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka was even better than the century he scored earlier in the tournament.
Ponting said, ‘It was a bigger and better innings.
“He scored 140 in the first game, but his 91 in the semi-final when we needed it the most was crucial.
“If it weren’t for Simo’s 90 in the semi-finals, we wouldn’t have been able to make our way to the World Cup final.”