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Warne back home, hopes to clear his name
The 33-year-old leg-spinner withdrew from the World Cup in South Africa after notifying the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) that he'd tested positive to a banned substance in a random doping test on January 22.
His record already stained by bribery and sex scandals, the latest blunder is a major set back for Australia's leading bowler in Tests and limited-over Internationals.
Warne, looking tired from the long flight, read a prepared statement to about 50 reporters at an airport news conference and then asked for privacy for himself and his family.
He will face an ACB anti-doping panel as soon as the result of the `B' sample from the initial is analysed by the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA).
``I'm pretty tired and still trying to come to terms with what has happened,'' Warne said. ``I still feel a bit in shock and devastated at the news. While my best wishes are with the team, and I wish I was there — being my last one-day International (series) for Australia — I felt it was important to address these issues personally. However, I'm hopeful of returning to South Africa to play a part in the World Cup.''
Warne confirmed that the fluid pill he took on the eve of his international comeback from a dislocated shoulder was a prescription medication called Moduretic that he'd been given by his mother, Brigitte.
The medication is usually used to treat hypertension, high blood pressure and fluid retention.
``Contrary to speculation, taking it had nothing to do with treatment for my shoulder injury or for masking any banned substance,'' said Warne, who'd shed at least 12kg in the last 12 months and considered himself in peak physical condition.
Warne said he had never used a performance enhancing drug. Diuretics are on the International Cricket Council's list of banned drugs because they can be used to mask steroid use.
Drugs ``have no place in cricket and I do not condone them in any way,'' he said. His previous doping test was on December 12 and didn't show any signs of drugs.
Under the ACB's anti-doping regulations, Warne faces a two-year ban if the three-person independent tribunal finds that he deliberately used the diuretic to cover up use of other drugs.
If the tribunal rules that he unwittingly ingested a low grade ``prohibited substance,'' his ban could be less than three months.
The ACB hasn't announced who will be on the tribunal or when it will meet. It also hasn't given up hope of having Warne reinstated to the World Cup squad.
He's expected to plead extenuating circumstances. In the meantime, he's suspended on full pay.
Warne's drug test has dominated the national media. The Melbourne-based Herald Sun, Australia's biggest selling daily newspaper, covered its front page on Wednesday with a photo of Warne under the headline: ``Warne's Drug Bombshell.''
Brisbane broadsheet The Courier-Mail had the issue on the front and back pages, suggesting the drug charge could end his career.
It detailed a litany of Warne's off-field indiscretions in a column headed: ``Strife and Times of Shane Warne.''
``The career of arguably Australia's greatest cricketer since Sir Donald Bradman could be ended by a two-year ban,'' wrote News Ltd. national cricket reporter Robert Craddock, who described Warne as a ``brilliant but disaster-dogged cricketer.''
Selectors to wait
Selectors will wait for more news on the situation of Shane Warne before announcing his replacement for the World Cup, the ACB said.
The ACB has not moved to replace Warne even though selectors have been told to consider a new player for the defending champion, which plays its second pool match against India at Centurion on Saturday.
An ACB spokesman confirmed the board would wait for a clearer picture of Warne's situation before asking the ICC if a new player could be sent to Africa.
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