Embattled all-rounder Andrew Symonds is relieved that he was spared from being suspended and handed a small fine by Cricket Australia for his bizarre radio rant on New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum. Symonds was fined just 4,000 Australian dollars for his "lump of shit" comment on McCullum on a radio interview last Friday, an amount which is less than an ODI fee, after the wayward all-rounder pleaded guilty for his offence onThursday.After a two-hour CA hearing Thursday, retired judge Gordon Lewis found Symonds guilty of breaching CA Code of Behaviour Rule 9 relating to detrimental public comment. Symonds escaped a suspension after CA treated him as a first time offender of breach of Code of Behaviour.In a brief statement, 33-year-old Symonds said he had been spared a heftier penalty because of the comment's intended meaning and because he apologised to McCullum."Whilst the comments were intended to be light-hearted, I acknowledge that they were careless and as such I accept the fine that I have received today," he said."I am pleased that the commissioner (Lewis) determined the penalty based on the full 14-minute interview, and not just the one comment that received extensive coverage."I want to again apologise to Brendon McCullum for my comments and thank him for his understanding. I want to reinforce that I remained committed to Cricket Australia and Queensland Cricket, and I look forward to putting this matter behind me so that I can focus on my cricket."Symonds will return to first-class cricket on Friday for the first time since a minor knee surgery, after the second Test against South Africa, in a Sheffield Shield match for Queensland against Western Australia at the Gabba.
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