Symonds punishment more of welfare issue: Sutherland

Melbourne, Sep 4 : Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland said the forced break on repeat-offender Andrew Symonds was more a welfare step than punishment.

"I think the critical thing is that Andrew now has time to sort through his priorities but also to seek whatever help he needs to assess his priorities and bounce back from that," Sutherland was quoted as saying in The Australian.

"To that end, he has our full support. We have already gone to great lengths to ensure that appropriate processes have been put in place for him to have the benefit of all our resources.

"All I know is what I can gather from the feedback I have got from inside the team, and they believe that they have dealt with it as a welfare issue.

"Obviously there are some discipline issues that are related to it, but ultimately it is a welfare issue," Sutherland said.