Matt Parker, the Australian visitor who ran semi-naked on to the Cup Match pitch, has appeased some and angered others with an online statement to explain his actions.

With the serious origins of Cup Match lying in the 1834 emancipation, Mr Parker’s streaking during the game was widely perceived as a slap in the face to Bermudians.

“Let me say from the outset, I wasn’t and am not now, deliberately out to offend,” Mr Parker posted on Facebook, claiming he had lost a bet.

Mr Parker, from Melbourne, was said to be filming the holiday weekend, and travelled on to his next destination on Monday.

The event sparked charges of racial favouritism when it was revealed that police had elected not to charge him.

Insisting that it was “meant to be a laugh”, Mr Parker said he had apologised to the cricketer who was seen shaking his hand — and that he then spent seven hours in jail, “admitted my offence, was well mannered and contrite, and so was treated well in return and let off with a caution”.

In a light-hearted post, Mr Parker joked about the quality of the food, adding that he had proceeded to the Spinning Wheel nightclub and been given a warm reception.

“I’m sure you can ask the massive numbers of people who’ve come to give me a high five or take a photo with me around the island over the last few days, that I’ve got a good heart,” Mr Parker wrote.

“And the few I met think [sic] were offended, I took my scolding from and apologised too, sincerely.”

The incident prompted intensive debate online, with many pointing to the case of a white couple having public sex at last year’s Cup Match with no apparent consequences — suggesting that white people were getting easy treatment.

Others noted an online clip purporting to show two young white people sniffing what may have been drugs.

Naysayers posted that the incident on the second day of Cup Match livened up a quiet part of the day.