As well as paying tribute to Australian cricket icon Andrew Symonds, close friend and former teammate Matthew Hayden said he would keep a special message from the “Bloody Good Block,” with which he once saved a man’s life.
The world of cricket is still mourning the sudden death of Symonds at the age of 46. Symonds was killed in a car crash on Sunday.
A moment in the first Test century of Symonds’ cricket career at the MCG during the 2006-07 Ashes series.
He shared that moment with Hayden, as well as many others who made friendships full of adventure, but also had an accident.
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“Simo once said to me, ‘If you can’t say it in three words, Joe doesn’t make sense to listen to it.’
“Make sure those XXXX bitter cans are nice and cool for Albert when we sip next.
“Broken heart. RIP verdict.”
If you follow the careers of both, you learned early on that they are both lovers of the outside world, but especially, boating and fishing.
On January 2, 2000, 22 years ago, Hayden and Symonds found themselves in a situation where every prisoner had nightmares.
Shortly before Symonds’ tragic death, the former all-rounder retold the story of the day he and Hayden saved the life of friend Trent after their boat capsized. They had no choice but to swim against the current flowing in the opposite direction.
“We could see the beach and I knew I’d make it and he (Hayden) knew he’d make it,” Symonds recalled for Fox Sports. Cricket legend.
“He (Hayden) got off and just started swimming and I see him whistling. He took a breath and must have heard me … I said, ‘Hey, we got Trent here!’
“Trent was shocked. We really had to get him back to the beach through this swim, but the current was taking us out and we were trying to get inside. We were working against nature.
“So we’ll go for a while, then Trent will pull the water and get his breath back … About the third time, we went swimming and Haydos grabbed him by the hand and said, ‘What are you doing? Drag?
“I said, ‘This is a really bad idea.’
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“We got under each hand and found him in those last few hundred meters. He flopped on the beach, I’ve never seen a man like that, he was so relieved to be on dry land.
Haidos reached for his tugs and tore off his sunglasses which he was able to grab the dashboard before crossing the boat.
“It was quite early. It was a little scary.”
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