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A group of cricket legends are set to honour late Aussie stars Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds during this summer’s Ashes series in two sporting events on the cricket oval and on the golf course.
Icons of the sport, including Allan Border, Sir Ian Botham, Merv Hughes and Ian Healy, will all participate in a Queensland vs Victoria exhibition match.
The game is set to go ahead between the first and second Ashes Tests, and will look to raise funds to support Rural Aid, a charity that looks to support and safeguard farming and rural communities affected by natural disasters - a cause that was close to Symond’s heart.
The cricket legends will also be joined by some of Warne’s Australian rules football friends, including Dermott Brereton, Robert DiPierdomenico and Leigh Montagna.
Warne and Symonds were very close friends, with Symonds paying tribute to the Victoria spinner just weeks before he tragically passed away in 2022 following a car accident.
The Queensland all-rounder took to Instagram to pay his condolences to the Warne family after Warne died from a heart attack while on holiday in Thailand.
A host of cricket legends will take part in a charity match in honour of late greats Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds (pictured top L-R: Michael Clarke, Warne, Symonds)
Warne (centre) and Symonds (right, bottom) were great friends and now several legends including Ian Bothan and Allan Border will pay tribute to them in a charity cricket match
‘Devastated, I'm hoping this is all a bad dream. I just can't get my head around never seeing you again. Love to all the Warne family, I'm speechless,’ Symonds wrote.
The charity cricket match is set to be played during the three-day Symonds-Warne Invitational at Royal Pines, located on the Gold Coast.
It is hoped that future clashes between Victoria and Queensland in the Sheffield Shield will now be played for the Warne-Symonds Trophy.
‘Shane would be so proud and pleased with all these guys giving their time,’ Keith Warne, Shane’s father, said to The Herald Sun.
‘It just shows the respect the guys have for Roy and Shane to make this event happen and try to continue their legacy. They are all great people. Shane would have been there with bells on.
‘Shane and Roy really got along well - they were both very much free spirits. They admired each other. They were tough competitors and tough people.’
It is anticipated that the golf event will next year be held in Melbourne, with The Herald Sun reporting that Symonds’ wife Laura was asked by organisers whether she had a particular charity she would like to donate funds raised during the event to.
She explained that because of her late partner’s love of the bush, organisers should donate the funds to Rural Aid.
Several of Warne's Australian rules football friends will also participate in the match
‘Roy and Warnie would have loved this and when Jimmy (Maher) floated it I thought they will be filthy they are missing out,’ she explained.
‘Roy loved the bush. He would disappear in his tinnie up the river and go fishing. That was his happy place. As long as he was on the water with an Esky and a fishing line he was happy. It was a big part of why we settled in North Queensland.
‘He lived up here and went to Charters Towers and was always drawn back here. I remember saying to him in Brisbane: “What would make you happy?” because he was feeling a bit down and he said: “I just want to go north”.
‘Shane was a very generous man and always looked after Roy. No matter how long they went between catch-ups, when they caught up they just picked up from where they left off. There was a really strong brotherhood in that team. Last week I caught up with Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) in Sydney. He makes an effort to really check in with us. The same with Brett Lee.
‘The three days are going to be big. There’s a lot of colourful people going and his has a nice legacy feel to it but a fun feel as well.’
Back in 2022, Symonds shared a hilarious memory of his good friend and former team-mate Warne, revealing how he once found a bag of cash in the spinner’s cricket bag.
During the 2005 Boxing Day Test match against South Africa, Symonds had spotted the Woolworths bag filled with cash in the dressing room.
‘The third day we were into and I remember walking in and his gear was just all over the floor,’ Symonds told Fox Cricket.
‘He used to have a lot of socks and a lot of boots, and in between all his big woollen cricket socks was this Woolworths bag full of rolled up $100 notes. It sort of caught my eye as I went past, just rolls and rolls of money.
Laura
Symonds' wife Laura explained that she would like the funds raised by the charity golf day and cricket match to be given to Rural Aid, a cause close to Andrew's heart (pictured)
‘I said to Warnie: “Mate, what’s the story here?”. He goes: “Oh, I had a little win at the casino last night Roy and you know what? Cash is king”.
‘It was about 40 grand lying on the ground there.’
The mastermind behind the tribute match is former white ball batter Jimmy Maher, who opened up on his great mate, Symonds.
‘I think of him every day,’ Maher said of Symonds. ‘I think about Laura and the kids all the time, but the best thing to do is to do something positive and put a spin on it and do something Roy would love by celebrating both of them and have some fun times for a good cause.’
