'Cut my wages': Classic fishing tale sums up late icon Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds' love of fishing was a secret no one, with a funny tale about the man described as the “Crocodile Dundee” of the Australian cricket team, summing up the late icon to a tee.

Australia was left shocked and saddened on Sunday after news broke that Symonds was killed in a car accident on Saturday night, with tributes flooding in from around the world for the beloved figure.

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The 46-year-old died in a single-vehicle accident near his home in Hervey Range, about 50km from Townsville in northern Queensland, with Queensland Police investigations ongoing as to what caused his car to leave the road and roll over.

Symonds' death has rocked the nation and the talented allrounder is being remembered as one of the great characters of Australian cricket.

The Queenslander was regarded by many as "one of a kind", and a hilarious story about his time at the top of Australian cricket proves why.

The year was 2008 and the Aussies were involved in an ODI series against Bangladesh when Symonds was sent home for missing a team meeting because he was out fishing.

As veteran cricket writer Robert Craddock explains, Symonds was adamant that it was all a big miscommunication and he thought the team meeting had been changed.

“I love with the time he missed a team meeting in Darwin to go fishing and he was eyeball deep in trouble. They’d had enough of him,” Craddock told Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa on Monday.

“Matthew Hayden was furious until he sent him a photo with a barramundi that he’d caught with the tagline, ‘Hey mate, look what you’ve missed by going to that meeting’.”

Craddock went on to reveal that Symonds once even offered to take a pay cut from Cricket Australia, if it meant less corporate responsibilities and appearances and presumably more free time to fish.

“So he was the only cricketer I’ve ever known to ask for a pay cut from Cricket Australia," Craddock added.

"He said, ‘If you cut my wages by 20 per cent, I just want to do 20 per cent less gigs for corporate Australia’.

“He said, ‘I just want to disappear up north’. He said, ‘I don’t care about the money’ — which they (CA) refused to do. They said, ‘No, you’ve got to do it’.

“He was a superstar. All the corporates wanted him, but he just wanted that quiet life, a man apart and a throwback to a different era...

“He was never materialistic. So long as he had a tinnie, a fishing rod, a crab pot and a cold beer, that was all he wanted."

Family's heartbreak over Andrew Symonds tragedy

Symonds leaves behind two kids - Chloe and Billy - as well as wife Laura who said the family was devastated by his tragic passing.

“We are still in shock,” she told The Courier Mail.

“I’m just thinking of the two kids. He was such a big person and there is just so much of him in his kids.”

Laura said her husband was “the most laid-back person”.

“Nothing stressed him out. He was an extremely chilled operator. So practical,” she said.

“He was never good with his phone but he always had time for everyone."

Symonds' sister Louise visited the site of his fatal accident on Sunday, where she left a heartbreaking tribute to her late brother.

Alongside a number of bouquets of flowers and a can of Great Northern beer, Louise left a handwritten letter conveying the anguish of her tragic loss.

“Gone far too soon!” the note read. “Rest in peace Andrew.

“I wish we had one more day, one more phone call.

“My heart is broken. I will always love you my brother.”

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