SOUTH Africa captain Graeme Smith says the return of Andrew Symonds to international cricket has to be managed carefully because it has the potential to be “disruptive”.

Symonds, who clashed with Smith at a Cape Town nightclub during Australia’s 2006 tour, has a long history of alcohol-related incidents and has been recalled to Australia’s one-day side following a troubled summer and a knee operation.

The two-time World Cup winner has been named in Australia’s 14-man squad for the one-day series against Pakistan starting in Dubai on April 22.

“He has a lot of experience, he has played a lot of key knocks for them at five,” Smith said.

“He does provide them with a little bit more balance I guess, he gives them a few bowling options. He’s a great fielder.

“In terms of a cricketer, I think they’d love to have him back. I don’t really know how he’ll impact the team in his personality and what has gone on, how that’s going to affect the team environment. It can be disruptive if he still has issues and it can disrupt other players. So I guess how they manage it is going to be the key.”

Smith said he was nervous about how Herschelle Gibbs would fit back into the team environment after completing a month-long alcohol rehabilitation course in early January.

“You always have apprehension when Herschelle is coming back into the team environment,” Smith said. “But I think the key is Herschelle has taken responsibility for himself. He has really fitted back into the (team) environment, he has handled himself extremely well since he has come back.

“He has really moved into a new phase of life and made an effort in terms of improving his lifestyle. That really made it a lot easier for us and I guess that onus is going to be on Andrew Symonds when he joins the squad.”

Symonds and Brett Lee are set to miss out on about $1.75 million by missing the Indian Premier League and playing for the national team in the upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

A full IPL season would have landed the embattled Symonds some $1.91 million on current exchange rates.

But if he plays all six matches of Australia’s tour to Dubai and Abu Dhabi before heading to the back-end of the IPL in South Africa, he will earn around $842,000.

Lee’s situation is slightly different as he might not even play in the early matches against Pakistan as he recovers from ankle and foot surgery.
Source – theage.com.au