Andrew Symonds says last week’s altercation with a fan at a Brisbane pub won’t stop him drinking and socialising in public.
But Symonds, who was cleared of any wrong doing by Cricket Australia on Wednesday afternoon, did admit he needed to think more about his actions in the future.
"I just need to make clever decisions," he said.
"That’s why I’ve got to be smart when I go out and where I go out."
The exciting all-rounder also defended his actions at the Normanby Hotel last week.
"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," he said.
"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."
"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."
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Symonds remained an important player in his side.
"We were very impressed with what he did in and around the group up in Brisbane during the game," Ponting said.
"We also identify that yes he made a mistake, he made a wrong decision to do what he did after the game but we were also reasonably impressed that he acted in a sensible way while he was at the pub so Andrew Symonds is definitely worth having around."
"He knows what commitment is required for him to stay around. It can’t become any clearer to him than it has been laid to him in the last couple of days."
Ponting said the team and CA were keen to help Symonds overcome his problems and become a 'better person'.
CA chief executive officer James Sutherland said an internal investigation had found Symonds had not provoked the incident and had acted in a 'restrained and mature' manner.
"Andrew did nothing wrong," Sutherland said.
"In fact he coped with a challenging and difficult incident quite admirably."
"The episode was largely harmless but again illustrates the challenge that high profile athletes from all sports can have when socialising in public places."
"Fans can be over eager about wanting to talk to and mix with their heroes, morning noon and night and on occasions some members of the public do behave inappropriately when seeking to talk to, take photographs or ask for autographs."
But Sutherland did say the incident was concerning given Symonds’ issues in the past.
"I thought it important to talk to Andrew and take advice from his professional counsellors to understand why he could be quite open about having a problem with alcohol and then find himself in the spotlight by visiting a pub a few days later," he said.
"I’ve revisited that advice to ensure that we are not rushing Andrew’s progress with his work in managing behavioural issues. That to me is more important than discussing, as media has suggested, whether or not I should impose curfews or other school-boy type restrictions."
"Andrew is no saint and never will be but his lessons from counselling, reinforced to him by this incident, are that he is committed to making intelligent off-field decisions, taking accountability for those decisions and being aware there will consequences if he makes the wrong decisions."