Monkeygate fallout: Ponting blames unsupportive CA for Symonds's career slide

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting claims that Andrew Symonds had received very little support from Cricket Australia during the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal and, that, practically ended the latter’s career.

Ponting said Cricket Australia (CA) bowed to pressure from heavy-weights BCCI during the 2008 incident in which India cricketer Harbhajan Singh was accused of racially abusing Symonds during the controversial Sydney Test match.

"I was told every day, every week by Cricket Australia that we had to stamp it out of the game. And (when) it did (happen), I had to make a stand against it. I followed the instructions to the letter. I did everything I was expected to do. I know there are a lot of administrators in Cricket

Australia who can't say the same thing," Ponting was quoted as saying by Australian Associated Press from his interview to Nine Network, to be aired on Saturday.

Harbhajan was banned for three Tests following the incident but the BCCI got the sanction revoked following an appeal.

Ponting said Symonds was never the same after ‘Monkeygate’.

"And that was the start of the end for Andrew Symonds. His career spiralled downhill after that because I know for a fact that he didn't feel like he could trust the people he needed to trust," he said.

Following a string of off-field incidents, Symonds went out of favour from the national selectors as he played his last Test in the same year, while his ODI career ended few months later in May 2009.