Apology over attack on Yorkshire star

Warner has been suspended until the first Test of the Ashes and fined £7,000 following the incident in Birmingham’s Walkabout theme pub in the early hours of Sunday following England’s 48-run win over their old rivals at Edgbaston.

“The incident that occurred, that I had struck Joe Root in the face, I’m here today to put my hand up and apologise publicly to Joe,” he told a Press conference yesterday. “I am responsible for my actions, extremely remorseful.

“I have let not just my team-mates down, but the Cricket Australia fans, the support staff, myself, my family. I’m sincerely apologetic.”

Warner, who pleaded guilty to breaching Cricket Australia’s code of behaviour, said he had been in contact with Root by text message. “I exchanged text messages with Joe; he accepted my apology which I am thoroughly grateful for and it won’t come to that circumstance again.”

Warner admitted he had been drinking before the attack on Root, but insisted he did not have a problem with alcohol.

“I wont deny I had a couple of drinks, but there’s no excuse for that,” he said. “I did what I did and it’s totally out of line. It should not have happened.”

Asked if he had a drink problem, he replied: “Definitely not.”

The incident happened less than three weeks after Warner had been fined £3,700 after pleading guilty to breaching the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour for a Twitter rant at a journalist.

He added: “It’s disappointing to have two incidents in a matter of months. Four weeks after that incident in India, I’ve got to draw a line under it and keep working to get that spot back in the Ashes.”