Former Australian test cricketer Andrew Symonds has died in a car accident in Queensland, Australian media reported on Sunday.
Andrew Symonds attends the memorial service for his former team-mate Shane Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March. Photo: Supplied/ FP
Andrew Symonds, left, with Shane Warne in 2006. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Multiple media outlets said Symonds, who was 46, had been involved in a single vehicle incident in Hervey Range, 50km from Townsville on Saturday night.
"Early information indicates, shortly after 11 pm the car was being driven on Hervey Range Road, near Alice River Bridge when it left the roadway and rolled," Queensland police said in a statement.
"Emergency services attempted to revive the 46-year-old driver and sole occupant, however, he died of his injuries.
"The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating."
Symonds' death comes two months after the passing of his former team mate Shane Warne, who died of a heart attack in Thailand on 4 March.
Symonds played 26 tests, 198 ODIs and 14 Twenty20 internationals for Australia and was part of two World Cup winning sides.
A powerful batter, canny bowler and fine fielder, Symonds was part of two 50-over World Cup wins and Australia's Ashes victory over England in 2006-07.
Born in Birmingham, Symonds played county cricket in the UK for Kent, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Surrey.
He held the joint-record for most sixes hit in a County Championship innings - he hit 16 in a knock for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan in 1995 - until Ben Stokes bettered his total last week.
His death is another significant loss for Australian cricket, following the deaths of former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh and earlier this year.
He played alongside Warne and attended his memorial service in Melbourne following Warne's shock death in Thailand in March.
Symonds was best known for his exploits in one-day cricket, in which he scored 5088 runs at an average of 39.75 and also took 133 wickets.
He scored his first of two Test hundreds in the Boxing Day Ashes Test of 2006, hitting 156 as Australia won by an innings and 99 runs.
But his career was not without controversy. In 2009, he was sent home from the World Cup in England for disciplinary reasons, which brought about the end of his international career.
During a 2005 tour of England, he was dropped for two one-day internationals after turning up drunk to a match against Bangladesh in Cardiff.
In August 2008, he was sent home from Australia's one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin after missing a compulsory team meeting in order to go fishing.
Former players express shock, sympathy
Tributes for Symonds have been flowing in from the global cricket community, with former team-mate and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist writing: "This really hurts."
Former England test captain Michael Vaughan said: "Simmo … this doesn't feel real" while another former England player Alex Tudor said: "It has been a sad time for our wonderful game."
Former fast bowler and commentator Damien Fleming said: "This is so devastating. Roy was so much fun to be around. Our thoughts are with Symonds family."
Fellow former fast bowler Jason Gillespie wrote: "Horrendous news to wake up to. Utterly devastated. We are all gonna miss you mate."
Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley also paid tribute to the "prodigious talent".
"Andrew was a much-loved and admired cricketer in Australia and around the world," Hockley said in a statement.
"He was a prodigious talent from an early age in Queensland with his clean ball-striking ability, shrewd spin bowling and brilliant fielding.
"He will be sadly missed by the Australian cricket community and particularly his very close friends at the Queensland Bulls where he was a popular and much-admired team-mate and friend.
"Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this devastatingly sad time."
Andrew Symonds playing for Australia against New Zealand in a test in Brisbane in 2008. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
- Reuters/ BBC