Rediff

Melbourne, Nov 26: After getting a clean chit from Cricket Australia in the pub brawl fiasco, embattled all-rounder Andrew Symonds has apologised to team-mates for putting them through this distraction and regretted his decision to visit the hotel.

"I maintain that I acted appropriately while at the hotel, but I regret making the decision to visit the hotel as I realise I put myself in a compromising position," Symonds said in a statement released by CA.

"I have told my team-mates that I am sorry to have put them through this distraction at a time when they are trying to prepare for a Test match so soon after the Brisbane game, particularly those who were also at the hotel and were named in media reports," he added.

Symonds said he is still going through counselling sessions and promised to come out as a better person.

"I have been and am still going through a counselling process and I give my team-mates, Cricket Australia and Australian cricket fans a commitment that I will continue the counselling work which, as I have already said publicly, is something I want to use to help me understand how and why I behave so I can be a better person," he said.

"It is something I have enjoyed in the last few months, and it is something with which I am making progress, but it is a work in progress," he added.

Symonds reiterated that he has learnt his lesson and vowed to translate his words into action.

"I have learnt a valuable lesson from this incident and I know that actions speak louder than words and that's how I will be judged," he added.

Symonds had been given clean chit by the investigating team of Cricket Australia that was probing his involvement in his altercation at a Brisbane pub on Sunday night.

Symonds had met CA chief executive James Sutherland and captain Ricky Ponting to discuss his involvement where he insisted on his innocence. Sutherland accepted his version and decided not to terminate his contract by letting him off with a last warning.