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JOHANNESBURG, May 24: South Africa’s Daryll Cullinan has expressed regret over his walkout on the eve of a Test match against Australia in Cape Town in March.
The 35-year-old batsman met the South African cricket board’s chief executive Gerald Majola on Thursday in an atmosphere described as cordial.
Cullinan had been recalled to the team for the first time in nearly a year only to quit over a contractual dispute.
He was widely regarded as having ended his international career and suspended by his province, Gauteng, pending an inquiry into his behaviour.
A cricket board news release on Friday quoted Cullinan as saying: “Gerald and I had fruitful discussions and there was regret expressed on my part in terms of my withdrawal from the team in Cape Town.”
He added: “I would like to play a positive role in South African cricket whether that be as a spectator or as a player.”
Majola said: “I accepted Daryll’s explanation and am glad we can put our differences aside and keep the game at heart.”
Cullinan has played 70 Tests, averaging over 44, but last appeared in April 2001 against the West Indies in Jamaica.
SYDNEY: Australian Test cricket captain Steve Waugh underwent minor surgery Friday on his left ankle and will miss two weeks of training, team officials said.
Waugh’s operation repaired a posterior impingement, an injury that causes discomfort when one bone impinges on the bony outgrowth of another bone. The discomfort in Waugh’s ankle increased in recent months during an intensive training programme.—APP/AP
