sport news Michael Clarke recalls his ruined mateship with Andrew Symonds as he posts ... trends now

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has shared a number of tributes and anecdotes to his former mate Andrew Symonds, who died in a single-vehicle car crash outside Townsville on Saturday night.

The duo were once good friends, but their relationship fractured and was never mended. Clarke had originally posted a single-word tribute to his former mate, simply writing 'devastated'. 

Now the former Test skipper has posted another tribute to his former mate on Instagram, saying: 'Opposites attract … I loved nothing more than walking out to play for our country together' with an image of the pair celebrating victory following the ICC Cricket World Cup Super Eights match between Australia and England in 2007.

The tribute was accompanied by a warm moment between the two during a One Day International where they shared a smile and a handshake on the pitch.

There were many such instances across their careers, as the two middle-order batsmen drove Australia to many victories. 

Clarke had the best seat in the house for Symonds' greatest One Day International knock of 156 that included 12 boundaries and eight sixes at a strike rate of 122.83. 

He was at the other end for much of that knock as the duo put on 220 runs for the fifth wicket against New Zealand in 2005.

Symonds had failed in the two Tests against West Indies before the ODI series and was facing media scrutiny. So he took out his frustrations against the Black Caps alongside his good mate at the time.     

They fell just three runs short of the highest ever fifth wicket partnership at the time that had been set by Indian batsmen Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja against Sri Lanka.

The duo also shared a moment together on the field during the 2005/06 VB Series between Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa when Symonds was dismissed under bizarre circumstances. 

He punched the ball straight back down the ground off the bowling of Sri Lankan off-spinner Jehan Mubarak. However, the ball collided with Clarke, despite his efforts to get out of the way, spooning up for Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan to take the easiest of catches. 

As Symonds walked off the field, he gestured to Clarke and said, 'You owe me a beer, mate.'

'Hope @MClarke23 bought him the drink he owed,' cricket fan Shekhar Gurung posted on Twitter.

'I certainly did,' Clarke replied with a broken heart emoji.

A cricket fan who used to live next door to Symonds also said Clarke was found passed out on his mate's driveway after a big night together. Clarke shared the anecdote on Twitter with another broken heart emoji. 

'I was fortunate enough to live next door to Andrew Symonds when he first cracked the Aussie side. There wouldn't be a weekend go by without a knock at the door at all hours of the day or night wanting a bed as he'd lost his keys to his house,' the fan posted.

'Or he'd want the missus to iron a shirt or lend him a belt as he was going out. I remember early one morning as I left for work I stumbled upon @MClarke23 asleep [pre-captaincy] on the driveway after a few too many waters the night before.'

However, the first significant cracks in their friendship appeared in the 2007-08 India-Australia Test series held in Australia when the infamous 'Monkeygate' scandal broke.

Symonds alleged that Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had referred to him as a 'monkey' in a heated altercation. India argued that the controversial spinner had said, 'Teri ma ki' [your mother's], which is a slur in Hindi.

Clarke famously won that Test in Sydney in the final over of the day, but Symonds said his mate had failed to have his back when the matter was hauled before match referee Mike Procter.

'The stump microphone evidence disappeared. It was just one thing after another. That weighed heavily on me. I started drinking heavily. I had the Australian Captain Ricky Ponting backing me. Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden backed me. They were good friends and still are,' Symonds said on The Brett Lee Podcast this year.

Clarke wrote in his autobiography 'My Story' that Symonds should not have pushed the issue as far as he did.

'I would be very honest about where I saw the situation at the SCG at that time. I was close to Andrew Symonds. I asked him whether he was racially vilified. It was not about the racial vilification of Andrew. It should have ended right there,' he wrote. 

Symonds died at about 10.30pm on Saturday in Hervey Range, 50km west of Townsville in far north Queensland , when his car left the road and rolled.

The star all-rounder opened up on his rift with Michael Clarke to reveal jealousy and money drove the pair apart when he spoke on the Brett Lee podcast just last month.

He believed Clarke became envious when he signed a huge $1.8million contract with the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League in 2008.

'Matthew Hayden said to me — when the IPL started, I got a pretty penny to go and play in the IPL — he identified it as there was a bit of jealousy that potentially came into the relationship there,' he told the podcast.

'Money does funny things. It's a good thing but it can be a poison and I reckon it may have poisoned our relationship.'  

Their mateship came to an end in 2008, when Symonds was sent home from a Test match in Darwin when he chose fishing over a compulsory team meeting. He felt Clarke - who was Test captain by then - had betrayed him. 

Symonds' wife Laura also expressed her shock after his sudden

read more from dailymail.....