Cosgrove accepts ban and heads for surgery

Mark Cosgrove, the South Australia batsman suspended from the Centre of Excellence, insists he did not damage his Brisbane apartment and was punished for leaving it untidy. Cosgrove was banned for four weeks, which includes the Academy's tour of India next month, alongside Aaron Finch and David Warner after they did not clean up their act despite repeated warnings about the state of their rooms.

The suspension is the second high-profile punishment for Cosgrove, who was sidelined by South Australia for a month in 2005 for being overweight, but he said he would have missed the India trip anyway because of an ankle operation. "Obviously I didn't keep my room tidy enough to [meet] the standards of Cricket Australia and I've accepted their punishment," Cosgrove told AAP. "There's no damage to my room and never has been, just untidy."

Despite the public setback, Cosgrove was pleased with his on-field gains during his off-season at the Centre of Excellence. "I've had some really good achievements over the last 14 weeks, I can't wait to play cricket and have a good season pretty much, and hopefully I'll get over this and continue playing some really good cricket," he said. Bone spurs in his left ankle will send him for surgery and he plans to be back for South Australia's first match of 2007-08.

Rod Marsh, the SACA's high performance manager, said no further action would be taken against Cosgrove. "It's worth noting that Mark is a fine young man," Marsh said, "albeit an untidy one."