A second Shane Warne sample had tested positive for banned substances, dashing the master legspinner’s slim hopes of having drugs charges against him dropped, it was reported here on Tuesday.
Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper reported that the Australian Sports Drugs Agency (ASDA) advised Warne on Monday that his B urine sample had provided the same positive result as the A sample that led to Warne’s shock exit from the World Cup last week.
There was no official confirmation of the B sample results on Tuesday. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) said it was still waiting to be informed about the test’s outcome and ASDA said its public release was a personal matter for Warne.
But Australia’s spin king was keeping a low profile after a crisis session with his legal team and public relations advisers to try to save his career.
Warne’s international career will almost certainly be over if he receives the minimum two-year ban for testing positive for a banned diuretic, a stimulant which can also conceal the use of steroids. The high-profile 33-year-old returned home from the tournament in southern Africa last week after learning his A sample was positive.
ASDA chairman Brian Sando last week said the chances of Warne’s B sample testing negative were slim. Both samples were given at the same time, ahead of a one-day match in Sydney last month that marked the new, slimline spinner’s comeback from a shoulder injury.
Australian media reported that Warne took the diuretic pill after being badgered by his mother, who wanted her son to look good at a Sydney news conference on January 22 prior to the team’s departure to South Africa for the World Cup.
Under ASDA rules, Warne must officially inform the ACB of the results of the B test within a week of receiving the news himself. The ACB is holding off naming a replacement for Warne until the legspinner has had the opportunity to face an anti-doping tribunal, with Stuart MacGill and Nathan Hauritz tipped as the most likely replacements.
Former Australian Test paceman Jeff Thomson told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper that he did not believe the Australians should be allowed a substitute if Warne was found guilty of a drug offence.
”I’m not blaming Warnie and I’m not disappointed in him, but the team should be penalised (if he’s guilty),” he said. – Sapa-AFP