Symonds

Melbourne: Unsure of Andrew Symonds’ return to the side, Australia coach Tim Nielsen is working on a plan to deal with the feisty allrounder’s absence in the forthcoming India tour.

After Symonds was sent home for missing a compulsory team meeting, preferring a fishing trip instead, Nielsen said he could not assume that the allrounder would be part of the squad in India.

“I don’t think we can at the moment, I don’t think we can bank on much at all at the moment,” Nielsen was quoted as saying by a news agency here.

“The only thing we can bank on is providing as much support as we possibly can for him (Symonds) to make the right decision for him and for us, to come back into the group 100 per cent committed,” he said adding “how long is a piece of string?”

“I don’t know if Roy (Symonds) would understand or know how long it’s going to take. I certainly don’t,” Nielsen added.

Australia will announce their touring squad soon as they play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India in October and Nielsen said Symonds’ absence would have ramifications on the team’s planning for the four-match series. “Oh yeah, we’ve lost out No. 6 batsman and our allrounder in the Test team for the short-term, so for sure,” he said.

Cricket Australia, Queensland and Australian cricketers’ association are planning to provide Symonds with counsellors to help him deal with the demands of being an international star. Nielsen said Symonds was sent home in everyone’s best interests. But he conceded there could be a long-term risk if Symonds did not return for some time. If he does return.

“It could have long-term implications. He could decide that he needs a bit more time than we thought,” Nielsen said, adding: “We just don’t know, that’s the hard part.”

The report also claimed that Australia are trying to organise another warm-up match before the first Test, starting on October 9. Nielsen said he wanted the players to reach India well ahead so that they could acclimatise to the conditions.

“Everyone keeps talking about being ready for that first Test match, but I’m really conscious of the fact also that we’ve got to be going strongly and well by days four and five of the second Test,” he said.

Australia’s players have used their stay in Darwin on strength and conditioning work in the heat and humidity to prepare them for India.