Matthew Hayden touching tribute to his best mate in cricket Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds’ close mate and former Australian Test side teammate Matthew Hayden has shared a touching tribute to the cricket great following his tragic death. 

‘Simmo once said to me, ‘If you can’t say it in 3 words Joe it’s not worth listening to,’ Hayden wrote to Instagram on Sunday night. 

‘Well Roy……’Bloody good bloke’ sums you up. Make sure those XXXX bitters cans are nice and cold for when next we sip’

He closed out the message with the hashtags #brokenheart and #riproy. 

Matthew Hayden shared a tribute to his close mate Symonds on Sunday night (pictured) 

Andrew Symonds (pictured at back) jumps into the arms of his batting partner Matthew Hayden (pictured front) after Symonds made 100 runs against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 27, 2006

Symonds died when his car left the road about 11pm on Saturday night near his home in Townsville in Queensland. 

The 46-year-old, who was born in Birmingham before moving down under at a young age, played 26 Tests, 198 one-day internationals and 14 T20s for Australia and won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007.

For many of those highlights opening batsman and fellow Queenslander Hayden was by his side. 

Hayden, who is currently in India where he is commentating on the Indian Premier League was woken early on Sunday with the news.

The pair were the best of mates, with Hayden listing Symonds debut Test century with himself as batting partner as the highlight of his own career.