'I'll regret it for the rest of my life' - Faulkner

Allrounder James Faulkner has spoken of his regret at making the decision to drink and drive in Manchester in July, which cost him his place in Australia's limited-overs squads for the recent series in England. Faulkner has returned home to Tasmania having helped Lancashire to the county T20 title, but he is £10,000 worse off after being fined over the driving incident.

Faulkner was also banned from driving for two years after being found nearly three times over the legal limit on July 2, after choosing not to walk home in heavy rain after a night out with Tasmanian team-mate Tim Paine. His actions were described by District Judge Mark Hadfield as "foolhardy in the extreme", and Faulkner said he would regret his decision for the rest of his life.

"It is always going to rock you, anything like that," Faulkner told reporters in Hobart this week. "It is always a lot bigger than you initially think. It was an error of judgment and something I definitely regret and I'll regret it at the end of my career. I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

The incident cost Faulkner his place in Australia's T20 and ODI sides after he was suspended for four games, and in his absence his fellow allrounder Mitchell Marsh was named Player of the Series in Australia's 3-2 one-day win over England. But Faulkner, who was Player of the Match in the World Cup final in March, believes he will be able to fit into the same side as Marsh in future.

"It is always spoken about a lot, but I think we're two different players," he said. "I'd like to think we can both play in the same one-day team. I know we didn't throughout the World Cup, but I'd like to think we could do that and the same with T20 cricket and Test cricket as well.

"At the end of the day it is in both Mitch and myself's control and that's scoring runs and taking wickets for our states or our country. I am good mates with him and get along with him really, really well so it is not like we are competing against each other at all, in fact it is the exact opposite. We are trying to help each other improve our own games because we are both young players."

Faulkner was not named in Australia's Test squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh and will instead be at home playing for Tasmania in the Matador Cup, which begins in early October. He is recovering from a dislocated finger suffered in the T20 final, but he expects to be fit for the state one-day competition.