The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Andrew Symonds denies being an alcoholic

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Andrew Symonds denies being an alcoholic

Melbourne: He denies being an alcoholic, but troubled Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds concedes he is a binge drinker and struggles to cope with the attention that comes with being an international cricketer.

“I’m not an alcoholic. I’ve been diagnosed as a binge drinker. I’d go out and drink too much, too fast,” Symonds revealed in an interview with Nine Network.

“I’m not proud of the times that I’ve drunk too much and been rude to someone or broken team rules,” the burly Queenslander said. Symonds was called back home from the ICC World T20 in England and Cricket Australia dumped him from its central contract for an alcohol-related indiscretion.

He had undergone rehabilitation before being picked for the World T20.

That was after he missed team meetings, turned up drunk for a match and had been involved in drunken brawls among other controversies. Looking back, the 34-year-old says he is glad to be free of the pressure.

“Now I’m out of that environment, that won’t happen anymore for those people in that team and for me,” he said. — PTI

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