Australia woke on Sunday morning to the terrible news that former Australian all rounder, and in the top three of current cricket commentators Andrew Symonds, had died in a car crash aged just 46. On top of other recent losses of cricket greats in Rod Marsh and Shane Warne, this one felt harder. Symonds always carried himself like a normal bloke. He didn’t seek the limelight like Warne, he didn’t dedicate himself to being a coach, selector and administrator like Marsh. He stayed involved in cricket, but he also had his life away from it, and that’s what made him so accessible to ‘normal’ Australians.

As the country mourns, on today’s episode we will look back at Symmo’s career, and the ups and downs that made him so likeable, and why statistics don’t always tell the full story of a payers influence on the game of cricket. As well as this, we will delve into the Brisbane Heat’s decision not to re-sign foundation player Chris Lynn for next season’s BBL competition, and discuss whether this signals the fall of the last bastion of T20 cricket being seen as just entertainment as it becomes more about money than the fans. That’s today’s program of The Casual Mankadder, on the podcast where opinion seems to outweigh common sense – a bit like the mainstream media and politics – here on Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.