0:
The family of late Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds will hold a memorial service at the Riverway Stadium in Townsville, Queensland on 27 May for the legendary cricketer. The 46-year-old passed away in a single-car crash on 14 May outside Townsville.
A statement released by Cricket Australia on Monday confirmed that Australian cricketing legends like Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher and former women's team head coach Matthew Mott will be delivering speeches at the memorial.
The statement read, “Andrew Symonds' life will be celebrated by former teammates with a no-jacket, no-tie memorial service in Townsville on Friday, almost two weeks after the cricket star's death. Symonds' family confirmed on Monday that a public memorial would take place for the former Test and limited-overs champion close to his home in North Queensland.”
“Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher and Matthew Mott will be among those to speak at the memorial, with poet and friend Rupert McCall to also deliver a poem. The Riverway Stadium event will also be live-streamed at the Queensland Cricketers' Club at the Gabba, Symonds' old home ground with Queensland.”
“He was a great stabiliser in any team because he was so real,” Langer
Former Australia opening batter and head coach Justin langer expressed the importance of Andrew Symonds in the great Aussie teams that dominated world cricket. He addressed that Roy was ‘a great stabiliser’ and brought the team together.
While talking to SEN Radio, he said, “In the Australian team there’d be some big egos or some things, and he’d pull you straight into line. It wouldn’t be with great speeches or anything, he’d just look at you, or say ‘enough of that son’.”
“We wanted to hug him and look after him,” Langer
“He was a great stabiliser in any team because he was so real. Like Rod Marsh, he was so real and that’s why he was such an extraordinary person that we loved so much. We wanted to look after him as well, we wanted to look after Roy because he had a few misdemeanours in his life, [had in] a lot of ways a tough time, but we wanted to hug him and look after him,” Langer said.
“This one really has rocked us because he was such a great player, but at the end of the day it’s much more than being a great player, it’s about being a great bloke, and he is one of the brothers and this one really hurts,” he added.