Symonds knee problem flare up puts cloud on playing future

Melbourne, Feb 14 (ANI): Queensland all-rounder Andrew Symonds' playing future is again under a cloud, as a knee problem forced him from the field on the first day of the Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.

Symonds took the wicket of Michael Klinger for figures of 1-3 in two overs before lunch, but appeared uneasy and did not re-emerge from the dressing room after the interval, the Daily Telegraph reported.

He was later spotted in the Bulls' viewing area with an icepack strapped to his right knee. Symonds had surgery on his right knee on New Year's Eve after limping through the first two Tests against South Africa.

After tea, a Bulls spokesman said Symonds was "experiencing soreness in his right knee", a near identical diagnosis to the problem that afflicted him during the matches against South Africa, and a bad sign that the operation did not clear things up.

The team management remains hopeful that he will be able to return to the bowling crease later in the match and also bat.

Cricket Australia are due to re-assess their position on Symonds at the end of the domestic season, but any debate over his attitude to cricket will be made moot if his 33-year-old body cannot hold together. (ANI)