CA clears Symonds from wrong-doing in Bribane pub incident

Melbourne, Nov 26 (UNI) Dark clouds, once again looming large over Andrew Symonds' career after a pub brawl at Brisbane on Sunday, drifted away as the Cricket Australia cleared him from any wrong-doing in its report and said he can continue with his career.

Cricket board chief executive James Sutherland expressed elation that the issue settled on Symonds' behalf and said he was totally satisfied that the troubled all-rounder acted appropriately and ''could continue with his career''.

The 33-year-old all-rounder had been under threat of losing his contract after a string of incidents dating back to mid-year including the go-fishing saga, which ruled him out from the Australian side for the important India tour for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

''Andrew did nothing wrong, in fact he coped with a difficult and challenging situation well,'' Sutherland was quoted as saying by 'The Australian'.

Symonds, who was flanked by captain Ricky Ponting and cricket boss James Sutherland, appologised to his team mates and promised to make wiser decisions after being cleared by the Cricket Australia.

He said, ''I maintain that I acted appropriately while at the hotel, but regret making the decision to visit the hotel as I realise I put myself in a compromising position.

''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.'' However, Sutherland said he had some words with Symonds' counsellor to see if he had been brought back to the game too quickly and indicated he was not happy that the controversial cricketer had been in a pub a few days after admitting to having had a drinking problem.

Further, Symonds promised to continue counselling and said, ''I hope to become 'a better person' through the process.'' However, he refused to rule out attending hotels in the future and said he would be more careful about where and when he did.

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