Symonds may become freelance cricketer!

Even as Andrew Symonds ponders over his future as an international cricketer, there is a reasonable possibility that he may end up playing the rest of his career as a freelance T20 player. It has been reported that the beleaguered Aussie cricketer has already been receiving offers from South African franchises to play for them for a couple of months and stand to earn over $120,000 for his efforts.

South Africa has a Pro20 tournament each year, and from this year, the top two teams of this Pro20 tournament have qualified for the Champions League to be played in India. Sanath Jayasuriya had represented Dolphins in the previous season for almost that kind of an amount; $100,000. > Symonds has already got the backing of two other such tournaments, one the KFC bash from his own Australia, and from the Deccan Chargers for whom he played in the Indian Premier League and played a decent part in helping them clinch it. Adam Gilchrist was so impressed by Symonds’ performance that he said that the all-rounder should make it into the side for the forthcoming Ashes. Symonds’ contract with the Deccan Chargers is for $1.35 million per annum, and he has at least one more year of that to go.

The other country who could be interested in hiring Symonds’ services is England. Hampshire’s owner, Rod Bransgrove, was apparently in talks with Symonds on the night that he was caught drinking in the public, and speculation is rife that Symonds may end up playing T20 cricket for the county and earning a fortune there as well.

Symonds’ manager, Matt Fearon, admitted that there were many options that were available for Symmo, and he could just be considering the options he decided to retire from international cricket. He said, “It’s fair to say he’s constantly sought after from many regions, both prior to this happening and currently. They are areas we haven’t explored before because he’s always been focused on playing international cricket. They’re options for him if he chooses to do that”