Twenty20 World Cup / maxliu / 04 June 2009 / Leave a comment

On the eve of Twenty20 World Cup, Australia's star all-rounder is sent home after drinking misdemeanour...

The Twenty20 World Cup will be deprived of one of its potential stars after Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was sent home for "breaking a number of team rules related to alcohol and other issues."

Captain Ricky Ponting expressed his disappointment at losing Symonds from his team, saying:
"On the eve of a very big tournament for us to lose one of the best Twenty20 players in the world right now is far from ideal, but we've got to move on from it as quickly as possible."

This is not the first time Symonds has been in breach of team rules and his CV includes a number of misdemeanours relating to alcohol. The exact nature of this latest incident remains unknown but there is a mounting sense within and without the Australian camp that the all-rounder's international cricket career could be over.

Ponting had already surprised many earlier this year when he failed to include Symonds in his Ashes squad - the ommission had provoked much debate on Betting.Betfair with cricket correspondent Paul Moon arguing that the decision would benefit England in thier bid to regain the Ashes.

However, the selectors have surely been vindicated now and some have even speculated that Symonds could be moved to retire pre-emptively.

So far, the news has had little impact on the Twenty20 World Cup betting. Betfair's Winner market continues to show the Aussies at [6.0] behind South Africa [4.8] and India [4.5].

Prior to their Friday night tournament opener against the Netherlands, England are available at [12.0].