Andrew Symonds was known for his larrikin sense of humour on and off the field, and that shone through as his final text message was revealed on Sunday.

Symonds, 46, was killed when his 4WD left the road and rolled in Hervey Range, about 50km west of Townsville in far north Queensland at around 10.30pm on Saturday.

At 8.45 that night, the cricket legend sent a message to Steve Crawley, the boss of Fox Sports, where Symonds worked as a commentator.

Symonds – pictured with his fellow commentator Kath Loughnan at Shane Warne’s memorial – sent a hilarious text to Fox Sports boss Steve Crawley shortly before he died 

It contained a grab of news that American football superstar Tom Brady will be paid a staggering $540million over 10 years to work as a commentator for Fox’s US arm, according to the Courier Mail.

Off contract with Fox Sports, Symonds wrote: ‘Crawls, we need to talk. Roy.’ 

Crawley also offered an insight into the sort of man Symonds was.

‘When he first started doing a bit of commentary towards the end of his playing days, he said he’d commentate for us if our kids could sit with him while he did it,’ he told the publication.

‘He wasn’t doing that for himself. He made their day.’

Meanwhile, cricket star Nathan Lyon has revealed the haunting words Andrew Symonds shared with him at Shane Warne’s memorial service as he joins the rest of Australia in grieving after the all-rounder died in a car accident.

‘Roy’, as he was affectionately known, shared a haunting conversation with Nathan Lyon at the service for their mate Shane Warne

Lyon posted a heartfelt tribute to his fellow Test star, calling him an inspiration to many

Devastated cricketers past and present have paid tribute to the legendary all-rounder since the tragic news broke, with Lyon posting some heartfelt words on Instagram and revealing a startling conversation he had with ‘Roy’ at their mate Shane Warne’s memorial service in March.

‘I am heartbroken by the news we all woke up too this morning. It was only 2 months ago at Warnie’s memorial service, Roy and I had a good chat and both agreed it was to young to leave us… now this!’ Lyon wrote.

‘RIP mate, a true legend of the game we love and inspiration to so many! My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, kids and friends!’

While Symonds’ playing career was over by the time Lyon made his Test debut in 2011, they both shared a mateship with Warne, who died of a heart attack in Thailand on March 4, aged just 52.

The hard-hitting all-rounder played many matches with the spin king as Australia swept all before them in the early 2000s, and Lyon has previously said he ‘always idolised’ the sheikh of tweak.

Share or comment on this article:

Andrew Symonds’ hilarious final text message revealed as Nathan Lyon shares haunting conversation

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual

We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.

You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.