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Shane Warne says Andrew Symonds showed a lack of respect to the Australian team in Darwin last month, but he has urged the allrounder not to take the easy option by exiting the international game. Symonds was cut from the one-day series against Bangladesh for going fishing instead of attending a team meeting and was not included in the squad to face India next month.

Warne was upset Symonds, who has been around the team for a decade, did not act like a senior player while the injured pair of Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden were missing from the squad. It was left to Michael Clarke, the acting captain, and team management to make the decision to send Symonds home.

“I would have thought that if Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke were good friends, then Symo would have more respect for Michael Clarke than that,” Warne said in the Herald Sun. “I think it’s disappointing that he put a young captain like Michael Clarke in that position.

“It was disappointing from Symo, especially with the Australian team not having senior players like Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden there. It’s not a one-off thing, and I just think Symo has showed a lack of respect.”

However, Warne said he did not want Symonds to walk away and focus instead on the Indian Premier League. Symonds trained with Matthew Hayden in Brisbane last week and is waiting to make a decision on whether to be part of Queensland’s start to the domestic season next month.

“I would be disappointed if he took the easy option and just threw it away,” Warne said. “He could do that and just take his cash from the IPL, but to me that would be the easy option. The hard option and the option that will satisfy him and earn him some respect is to come back a better person and show how important playing for Australia is to him.”

Source:Cricket News