Auckland, September 06: New Zealand domestic cricket team Auckland is interested in signing controversial Australian Andrew Symonds to play in this year’s Twenty20 competition.
Symonds, a two-time World Cup winner who lost his Australian contract after a series of off-field indiscretions, would not be available for the entire month-long New Zealand competition which kicks off in January because he is due to turn out for Queensland in its Twenty20 Big Bash.
But because the Australian competition is only over five rounds he could feature for Auckland towards the end of January.
Northern Districts, another New Zealand domestic team, has already signed Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan for the Twenty20s, while Wellington has secured England international Owais Shah as the provinces look to bolster their chances of reaching next year’s Champions League.
Otago, which will represent New Zealand at this month’s lucrative Champions League after winning the domestic Twenty20 title last season, is hoping to bring back England’s Dimitri Mascarenhas for another season as well.
“We are looking at some options about whether we could get a cameo from Andrew Symonds,” Auckland chief executive Andrew Eade said.
Eade also revealed it was in talks with a current international to play the entire season as well, but would not name him.
He told New Zealand’s Herald on Sunday: “One of the options we are looking at is, if even we brought someone out for the whole season we would explain to them that, for one game maybe, we would play someone like Andrew.”
“I have no doubt if we had Andrew Symonds playing for us in one game we would get 1000 more people coming along.”
Teams making the Champions League are allowed up to four imports for that tournament, although the player must have played for the province in the domestic competition as New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum did for New South Wales last season.
—–Agencies