St George’s all-rounder Treadwell Gibbons Jr has apologised for his actions in Cup Match and is ready to accept his punishment.Gibbons, flanked by pastor Joseph Whalen of the Marsden First United Methodist Church in Smith’s parish and coaches Allan Douglas and Grant Smith of his league club, Cleveland, spoke to the media yesterday at Barr’s Bay Park when he expressed regret at his behaviour at Wellington Oval on the second day of Cup Match.“First of all I want to apologise to my family, to the Governor, the Premier, St George’s fans, Somerset fans and to the people of Bermuda,” Gibbons said in a prepared statement. “My actions on the second day of Cup Match were wrong, I got caught up in the heat or the moment. I am very apologetic for what I did. It will not happen again. I am taking steps to work on self-discipline to prevent any such behaviour from reoccurring.”Gibbons was given out caught at slip by Janeiro Tucker by umpire Richard Austin, a decision he strongly disputed. After Austin consulted fellow umpire Oscar Andrade and then spoke to the Somerset captain Jekon Edness, he indicated to Gibbons that the decision would stand. The player continued to show his displeasure and subsequently vented his anger towards the Somerset players, waving his bat as he approached them before batting partner, captain Oronde Bascome, intervened and urged his teammate to leave the field. Gibbons continued to show his anger as he left the field and reportedly had an exchange with a spectator.“It was never an intention of mine to hurt anyone or hit anyone,” Gibbons pointed out yesterday. “It may have looked like that, but I never had any intentions of hitting anybody.“At Cup Match I really, really wanted the best. I had goals that I wanted to accomplish and I am deeply sorry that I did not achieve them.”St George’s president Neil Paynter has declined to comment on the incident, saying the club will await an umpire’s report of the incident that was seen by thousands at the game and live on television. Gibbons said he spoke to Paynter a couple of days after the incident.The Bermuda Cricket Board has been called on by former umpire George Francis to take disciplinary against Gibbons, but so far all President Lloyd Fray would say is: “We will look to have the full report from the umpires and also have an interview with Mr Gibbons and will determine the actions that may or may not take place with regards with what comes out of our interview and investigation with Mr Gibbons.”The BCB bowed to pressure and removed Gibbons from a training squad named for the ICC Twenty20 qualifiers in Dubai in November. The squad was chosen before Cup Match and released a few days after the match.Gibbons said yesterday he would accept any punishment over his actions. Some, like former St George’s all-rounder Lee Raynor, have called on the club to take strong disciplinary action.“I accept my punishment and I pray that I will have a future in cricket,” said the 28-year-old Gibbons, the son of former Flatts and Western Stars player Treadwell Gibbons Sr who played for Somerset in Cup Match.“I have been playing cricket all my life, for over twenty years, ever since I was five-years-old. The person who inspired me was my daddy, he took me to games and played cricket with me.“The game is in me, in my blood. I love to play. I love to represent the Cleveland County Cricket Club and to have the opportunity to represent my country.”Douglas, who also represented Cleveland, St George’s in Cup Match and Bermuda, denied the suggestion by a VSB reporter that the incident might have been “overplayed” by the media. “I don’t think it has been overplayed, the public have their right to voice their concerns and a lot of it is justified because everyone recognises it wasn’t cricket, not what we consider in the ‘light of the game’,” said Douglas.“But he’s looking at ‘okay, what am I going to do about it from here’ so Treadwell is going to get into some programmes. The Pastor is going to work with him on counselling and things like that and try to get his life straight. Like he said, whatever punishment comes his way he’s got to take it, but in the meantime he’s got to sort himself out and that’s what’s important. That’s what Cleveland try to do in our community.”Pastor Whalen, who plays a pastoral role with the Cleveland team whose training field is next to Marsden church, said it is unfortunate the incident overshadowed the milestone achievements of Janeiro Tucker and Lionel Cann.“It wea a little bit disheartening to me that the accomplishments of Janeiro Tucker, Lionel Cann and the young man who won the safe hands award (Somerset wicketkeeper Edness) were diminished in my perspective by the media that seemed to want to drill in on this matter,” said Pastor Whalen.“There is a universal principle that says that when someone falls down, one of the things you do is look at the act, but you also have a regard for the person. Part of the punishment also has to be a sense of rehabilitation and how do we help these young men, and I’m talking beyond Treadwell Gibbons.“What is the role of cricket and football? We have talked together, the coaches and myself and with others, and have acknowledged that the positive role that cricket and football and other sports has is to salvage these young men and build them up.”Gibbons made his debut in Cup Match last year in Somerset, scoring 41 in the first innings and 18 in the second.