Williams apologises for outburst

Brad Williams has apologised to Cricket Australia for his outburst following his omission from the Australian line-up for the first Test. Williams had earlier alleged that Nathan Bracken had been preferred simply because he was a left-arm bowler.

"I certainly regret any offence that might have been taken from the comment," Williams said in a statement. "It was not intended to be disrespectful and I have now learned my lesson about how things might be interpreted. I have apologised to Cricket Australia, Steve Waugh and Trevor Hohns [chairman of selectors] and now want to focus my energies on cricket issues and doing my best as the season continues."

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) has decided not to punish Williams, opting instead to counsel the player. James Sutherland, chief executive of CA, said: "Cricket Australia has undertaken a complete review of the incident, and whilst it is clear that the comments are not appropriate, it was felt that he didn't have a case to answer under the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour."

"However from a Cricket Australia perspective, we felt it was necessary to counsel the player and educate him about appropriate protocol moving forward. Our General Manager of Cricket Operations, Michael Brown has spoken to Brad strongly about this. Brad was fully accepting of that view and we believe that the issue has now been dealt with."

Williams was released from 12th-man duties and allowed to travel to Perth for Western Australia's Pura Cup match against Tasmania, which starts on Sunday. Nathan Hauritz has taken over as 12th man for the Brisbane Test.