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| Sunday, 23 February 2003 |
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Stunned Warne banned for 12 months, to appeal MELBOURNE, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Shane Warne's career was hanging in the balance after he was banned for 12 months on Saturday in the greatest doping scandal to hit cricket. Warne, the most successful leg spinner in history, responded immediately by saying he would appeal and calling himself the victim of "anti-doping hysteria". An Australian Cricket Board (ACB) anti-doping committee handed out the ruling after the 33-year-old flew home from the World Cup earlier this month without bowling a ball after testing positive for a diuretic. Diuretics can be used to mask other illegal drugs. The three-person committee took statements from seven witnesses in an eight-hour hearing on Friday. Warne, one of the sport's most colourful personalities, was told the decision behind closed doors at the ACB's Melbourne headquarters on Saturday, two hours before it was publicly announced at 0200 GMT. Justice Glen Williams, who chaired the panel, told reporters: "The committee found the charge proved and imposed on player Shane Keith Warne... (a ban) for the period of 12 months dated from February 10th 2003." Warne, who made a rapid recovery from a serious shoulder injury to make Australia's World Cup squad, appeared stunned. He told a news conference: "I am absolutely devastated and very upset. "I will appeal. I feel that I am a victim of anti-doping hysteria. I also want to repeat I have never taken any performance-enhancing drugs and I never will." Warne's appearance He stressed that he had taken a fluid-reducing tablet, given to him by his mother to help him slim down, on January 21. "It had nothing to do with cricket or trying to mask anything. It had to do with appearance. "I did not know it as a diuretic... I feel that a 12-month suspension is a very harsh penalty for not checking what I took with anyone." ACB chief executive James Sutherland, however, told a news conference: "The anti-doping committee found that there were no exceptional circumstances which would justify the charge being dismissed." The ban leaves a huge question mark over Warne's already controversial career, which has included him being punished for accepting money from an Indian bookmaker. He has also fought back from a string of serious injuries to his bowling shouler and finger. The bowler, one of Wisden's five greatest players of the 20th century, looked set to overtake West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh's world record tally of test wickets in the coming year. He had announced in January that he would retire from one-day cricket after the World Cup to concentrate on tests. That decision came after he dislocated his shoulder playing against England in Melbourne on December 15. "My shoulder comeback was exactly as my surgeon and physio predicted," Warne said on Saturday. I am proud of the dedication I have shown in my rehabilitation and fitness regimes over the past 12 months (losing 13 kgs/29 pounds)." Sutherland added: "The committee confirmed the mere presence of diuretics in the sample constituted use of a prohibited method under the anti-doping policy." Suspended contract He said a full explanation of the ruling would be released later but added: "Our position on doping is that we condemn the use of performance-enhancing drugs in cricket and doping practices in cricket." Warne's contract with the ACB will be suspended for the duration of the 12-month ban. "It's been an unfortunate episode for everyone concerned," Sutherland said. Australia captain Ricky Ponting, speaking in South Africa at the World Cup, said: "He was very naive...and has obviously learnt a very hard lesson." Warne, who subject to a successful appeal will now miss a string of test series including Australia's much-awaited visit to the West Indies, had been heavily criticised in the local media for saying his mother Brigitte gave him the pill. "I have never blamed my mum," Warne said on Saturday. "I thought it was important to clarify where the fluid tablet came from." Warne has been banned from all cricket, including playing for his England county side Hampshire, his state side Victoria and his Melbourne club St Kilda. The player, who has been credited with reviving the art of leg spin bowling, has taken 491 test wickets, 28 behind Walsh's total. Warne was also man of the match in Australia's World Cup final win over Pakistan in 1999. The selectors will now name a replacement for the leg spinner in this year's 15-man squad, with Queensland off spinner Nathan Hauritz and New South Wales leg spinner Stuart MacGill the main contenders. "To the Aussie team: You don't need me to win the World Cup," added Warne, dressed in a black suit with a blue tie and sporting a gold ear-ring and spiky bottle-blond hair. "You have the talent, the passion and the desire to bring back the cup to all of us here in Australia." Australia, the favourites, have beaten Pakistan, India and the Netherlands in their opening three matches. |
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