Glenn Connley

I hope Andrew Symonds caught a tasty barramundi during his ill-fated fishing trip in Darwin ... because that little excursion could - indirectly - cost Australia the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

I don't care what's going on in Symonds' head (not much, I suspect) - but belongs under a baggy green cap covered in zinc cream, diving all over a dusty Indian cricket field, putting pressure on batsmen, piling on runs and bowling over after over of those annoying off breaks.

He's a fool to have put fishing ahead of cricket, knowing the likely consequences. But the Australian selectors are equally foolish not rushing him back into the squad for the upcoming four-Test tour of India.

To say Australia needs ‘Roy' on this tour is an understatement. Given the myriad recent departures from the Aussie squad - Warne, McGrath, Martyn and Gilchrist - experienced players are at a premium. Maybe five years ago, selectors could have afforded to take such a hard line. Not any more. The world is catching up. It's time to be a little more pragmatic.

The squad still boasts plenty of talent, particularly among the batsmen with Ponting, Clarke, Hayden, Jacques, Hussey and the rejuvenated Simon Katich back in the team. The bowling department is solid enough, too, with Lee, Clark and Mitchell Johnson set to lead the line.

But there's a serious shortage of all-rounders. Shane Watson can be a mesmerizing cricketer, particularly in the shorter form of the game, but he's unproven at Test level and continues to be dogged by injury.

The spin department is the biggest concern of all. Warne was irreplaceable, we know that. Stuart MacGill was as good as you could hope for in that role.

Part-timers aside (apologies to Michael Clarke who'll never do that again), the spin attack now lies with untested rookies, both young and old.

At the age of 36, Bryce McGain is a wonderful story. He was the leading wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield last year in just his second season as a professional, having made his first class debut only in 2001. But bowling to Martin Love, Mark Cosgrove and Adam Voges on home soil is a world away from five days against Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly and Laxman.

Right arm off spinner Jason Krejza has played the same number of Tests and McGain - zero - and is eleven years younger.

Another debutante, New South Wales quick Doug Bollinger, will probably carry the drinks for much of the tour but he, too, could benefit from the influence of Symonds' experience.

Forget about punishing Symonds. He's already been embarrassed enough. Don't punish the Australian (and, for that matter, Indian) cricket fans. Roy is never going to change.

Get him on a plane to Delhi - fast.

I don’t have a problem with the theory behind Richard Scudamore’s plan to play a “39^th round” of the Barclay’s Premier League at various football hotspots around the globe.My beloved home-town, Melbourne, Australia, would be a perfect venue for such a fixture.It’s an affluent, sports-mad city. The 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground or the 55,000 seat indoor/outdoor Telstra Dome would almost certainly fill for even a couple of mid or lower table clubs playing for real premiership points.

The arguments about the potential impact on local sport don’t wash with me. It’s about supply and demand. There is certainly a demand for meaningful Premier League fixtures in dozens, maybe hundreds, of cities around the world.Moreover, it’s about money, which – again – is a question of supply and demand. We live in a free global economy. If someone wants to seek potential markets for their product, they’re entitled to do so.

My main problem with the plan is the fact that it would make the fixture unfair.The Australian Football League is a hugely successful national football competition for the unique local football code. Crowds are enormous, nearly all clubs make a profit each year and the television rights are worth more than AUD120,000,000 a season.Yet it’s most basic flaw, the flaw which affects the credibility of the entire competition, is its fixture.With 16 teams, for everyone to play each other twice you’d need a 30 week season.

Instead, the AFL plays a 22 week home-and-away season, a hangover from the 12 team competition which ended in the late 1980s. Considering there’s a four-week finals series at the end of the season, to play 34 weeks, plus pre-season, would make the season – simply – too long.One of the great strengths of the Premier League is the fairness of the fixture. Everyone plays everyone else twice, once at home and once away. By adding a match – even on neutral territory – that perfect balance is lost. And, for me, that’s too great a price.

Either play two matches a season (both against the same opponent) on foreign soil each season or don’t make it for Premiership points. How about scheduling the quarters or semis of the League or FA Cup at lucrative overseas venues?The bottom line is, the football calendar (particularly in England) is stretched too far already – largely by meaningless international friendlies. Scudamore’s plan is fine in theory but will never work fairly in practice.