Clarke defends Symonds omission

Andrew Symonds was sent home after going fishing before the first ODI

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Stand-in Australia captain Michael Clarke insists the decision to drop Andrew Symonds for the opening one-day international against Bangladesh was made with the player’s best interests in mind.

Symonds was sent home from Darwin this morning after he failed to attend a team meeting yesterday because he had gone fishing.

And Clarke revealed the decision to stand Symonds down was the culmination of several instances which suggested the all-rounder was not fully committed to the cause.

“I guess the main concern for us is Andrew's commitment to playing for this team and in my opinion, you need to be committed 100 per cent,” Clarke said following Australia's 180-run win over Bangladesh.

“That's all facets of being an international cricketer. And we believe, for the best interests of this team, for the best interests of Andrew Symonds, to have some time away from the game and let's try and get him right as soon as possible to have him back in our team.”

Clarke now hopes Symonds will use his time back home in Brisbane to do some thinking and return stronger than ever in time for the upcoming tour of India.

“Andrew was very disappointed but he accepts our decision and I hope he goes away from this and gets himself right and gets himself back into our team, because he's a very important player and we certainly want him as part of our squad,” Clarke added.

“We want Andrew part of the Australian team for as long as he wants to be a part but right now, for the best interests of the team, and for the best interests of my friend Andrew Symonds, I believe we've made the right decision.”

Coach Tim Nielsen admitted he was disappointed Symonds has not been as committed as he could be with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden all unavailable for the match against Bangladesh.

“I certainly believe at the moment when we've got such young impressionable faces in our team, we need to make sure our senior blokes are 100 per cent spot on to the way they go about presenting themselves and that was an issue that wasn't being carried out with Andrew,” Nielsen said.