Cricket great Shane Warne admitted yesterday he had tested positive for drugs arising out of fluid reduction medication he had taken while recovering from a dislocated shoulder.
One of the biggest stars in the game, the colorful Australian legspinner will be sent home from the World Cup -- his final one-day championship -- currently taking place in South Africa.
At a news conference ahead of Australia's game against Pakistan at Wanderers' Stadium, Johannesburg, Warne, who has tested positive for a banned diuretic, announced news that has stunned the sport although he declared his innocence.
``I'm shocked and absolutely devastated to be informed that the test sample which was collected in Australia on the 22nd of January indicated the presence of a prohibited substance,'' Warne told a news conference at the Australian team hotel.
``I am shocked because I don't take performance enhancing drugs in any shape or form.
``I am proud to be in the shape I am at the moment and that is through nothing else but hard work and looking after myself with diet.''
The 33-year-old legspinner dislocated his right shoulder in a fielding accident Dec. 15 in a limited-overs international against England and made a startling recovery to be fit in time for the World Cup, being held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
``I took a fluid tablet before my comeback game in Sydney,'' Warne said. ``The tablet is supposed to dehydrate you and rid your body of any excess fluid. At the time I was not aware that it contained any banned substance.
``I'm confident it will be cleared up soon because previous tests have come back negative and so will future ones.''
ACB chief executive James Sutherland said that, if the second test is negative, the board will ask World Cup organizers to reinstate him to the Australian squad.
■ Name: Shane Keith Warne ■ Born: Sept. 13, 1969 ■ Teams: Victoria, Australia, Hampshire ■ Batting: Right hand ■ Bowling: Leg-spinner ■ Test debut: Australia vs. India at Sydney, 3rd Test, 1991/1992 ■ ODI debut: Australia vs. New Zealand at Wellington, 3rd ODI, 1992/1993 ■ Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1994; joined Hampshire (England): 2000; nominated one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century ■ Test match record: Batting (matches, innings, not outs, runs, highest score, average, 100s, 50s) M:107 I:146 NO:13 R:2238 HS:99 Av:16.82 100s:0 50s:8 ■ Bowling (overs, maidens, runs, wickets, average, best bowling, 5 wickets in an innings, 10 wickets in a match) O:4979.3 M:1417 R:12624 W:491 Av:25.71 BB:8-71 5w:23 10w:6 Source: Reuters
``In the meantime we have advised the ICC of the situation and we will apply to the technical committee for approval to replace Shane in our world cup squad,'' Sutherland said. ``We have asked the Australian national selection panel to recommend a replacement.''
He said the results Warne received from the Australian Sports Drug Agency were preliminary and subject to confirmation.
Warne had announced before departing for South Africa that the World Cup would be his farewell to one-day cricket, although he vowed to continue in tests.
The ICC follows the International Olympic Council guidelines on banned substances. Diuretics are banned because they can be used as masking agents to avoid detection of steroids.
Warne described his life as a ``soap opera'' after being stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy in August 2000 after a phone sex scandal with a British nurse he'd met in an English nightclub became one problem too many for the Australian Cricket Board.
Off-field trouble has followed Warne, who is Australia's leading wicket taker in test (491) and limited-overs cricket (288).
That followed another highly publicized incident in New Zealand when he tried to take a camera from a teenager who photographed him with a cigarette while was being sponsored to give up smoking and had said he'd kicked the habit.
In 1994, Warne and Mark Waugh admitted taking money from an Indian bookmaker for pitch and weather information during a tour of Sri Lanka. The pair were fined and reprimanded by the ACB.
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