How Symonds allowed Monkey-Gate to sink his career

Melbourne: Jimmy Maher, the former Australian cricketer, is at one of Gabba's hospitality suites having some quality time with his friends while enjoying some Test cricket when he is interrupted. After a little hesitation, he agrees to talk about his best friend Andrew Symonds, who needs no introduction to Indian cricket followers.

. It has been more than two and half years since the colourful but controversial all-rounder passed away in a car accident, and Maher believes he is in reasonable control of his emotions. He couldn't have been more wrong.

.Did Ashwin get his timing wrong?. His speech stutters, eyes well up and he turns his face away when you ask him how he received the news of Symonds' passing.

. After a few seconds, he tries to recall the tragic incident but fails again.

. You curse yourself for putting him in such a situation and apologise.

. He swats his hands to convey, "it's alright", and after a few more moments manages a couple of sentences.

. "It's funny because I actually thought I had overcome it (his death). But when you, if someone brings it up, that's when you know (you aren't over with it)... No one had brought it up for a while."

. You feel sheepish again before he regains his composure.

. "I still can't believe it. I still can't believe it because it was just so preventable."

. What do you mean when you say it was so preventable?

. "I mean having an accident like that is just not... I mean I didn't expect him to be the first eulogy I would ever read," he rues. "So when his wife rang me and told me what had happened, I was just in a total state of shock. I mean I couldn't really come to terms with it. I was very surprised because you just don't think that's ever going to happen. A whole heap of thoughts go through your head like his young children, his wife, his family, his mother... So just the speed of the incident."

. Maher and Symonds grew up together after their paths crossed when they were 8-9 years as aspiring cricketers. They played against each other, played together and then went on to play for the country. Few people knew Symonds better than Maher did. They were a family.

. Maher describes Symonds as a shy person.

. "(If) People knew him well, they knew he was a bit shy," he tells you. "So it took a while for him to sort of warm to people and to trust them, if you like. Trust is probably the best word to use, but once he did trust you and it was open slather, his confidence levels would be up. But he was always a bit cautious, which a lot of people didn't know about him but as a personality."

. Without saying in as many words, Maher alludes that the Monkey-Gate, involving Harbhajan Singh and Symonds, set off a chain of undesirable but avoidable events, eventually leading to the end of a career that failed to see its complete potential.

. The Monkey-Gate happened in 2008 and Symonds played his last match for Australia in 2009.

. "I think there were a few things that happened," Maher begins. "Roy (Symonds' nickname) was a very loyal man. He was big on his mates, he was big on trust and he was big on having your back. That's the best way to sum him up. If I had a phone call, he would be the one I would ring. I know he's got my back and I know if I was going to war and I wanted someone in the trenches, he's the one I would want.

. "I think what happened, which is no one's fault, but a lot of the older players that he had (Adam) Gilchrist, (Matthew) Hayden, (Ricky) Ponting, you know, they were moving away and he was still in the Australian team. So I think he sort of felt that. He looked to his left and looked to his right, he didn't at the time feel the same, 'I'm going to die for you." I think that was it. I think that was reflected in what happened post that time.

. "If you look at all the issues, probably even from the Harbhajan issue, he was reasonably issue free up to that point. And then after that, I think he felt let down and I think he felt as though people didn't support him and didn't back him and then that spiralled. And if those guys were there years later, we would have seen a much different outcome."

. Would you say he let the Harbhajan episode affect him?

. "Not the actual on-field incident, not that," he insists. "It was more how it was handled and the way he felt let down. He felt that he was let down by his governing body and he was let down. But he was never let down by his teammates. But I think in a subconscious way, it was always like, I've been let down badly here and in his own mind gave him the permission to behave, maybe, badly. You know, that's just knowing him personally."

. You can feel the pain and anguish when Maher says, "His cricket career was voluntarily finished. I just think, it's just such a terrible tragedy, and I still to this day, expect him to walk around the corner any minute. It's just some stupid dream. But the biggest thing I miss is the family side of things. He would have been the godfather of one of my kids. All those little things that I suppose we all take for granted a lot of the time," he signs off.

How Symonds allowed Monkey-Gate to sink his career

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