http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/11/1044927586704.html
Warne out of World Cup
February 11 2003
Australian spinning star Shane Warne is out of the cricket World Cup without bowling a ball.
In a press conference Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland said Warne asked to be stood down after being informed by the Australian Sports Drug Agency that he had tested positive to a banned substance.
"He may have committed an offence under the ACB's anti-doping policy," Sutherland said, adding that the star bowler could face charges if follow-up tests confirmed the same result.
The drug was not identified but was described as "fluid reduction medication" and "is not performance-enhancing in any way", Warne said.
Sutherland said Warne could return to the World Cup if it was found that no offence had been committed. Warne will also face a disciplinary hearing of the ACB's anti-doping committee. In the meantime, the Australian team will call for a replacement.
Warne said he took the drug before a match in
Sydney last month without realising it was banned. He said he was "shocked and absolutely devastated" when told of the
test result.
Warne insisted his physical condition was the result of "hard work and looking after myself with diet". "Previous [drug] tests have always come back negative and so will any future ones." he said.
Warne, 33, dislocated his right shoulder in a fielding accident on December 15. He made a quicker than expected recovery and returned to the team in time for the VB Series finals against England in Australia late last month.
Australia's opening match against Pakistan starts at 7pm (AEDT) tonight.
The news could spell the end of Warne's spectacular international limited overs career.
He announced last month that he would retire from the one-day game after the World Cup to concentrate on
Test cricket.
He has taken 291 one-day wickets at an average of 25.82 in 193 games and was a key member of the team which won the last World Cup in England.
If Warne - who Wisden count as one of the 20th century's five greatest players - has tested positive to diuretics he faces a possible two-year ban from the sport.
Warne was closing in on Courtney Walsh's
Test wickets record of 519.
Warne has 491
Test scalps to lie behind only the great West Indies fast bowler.
Diuretics are used predominantly to express fluids from the body, sports medicine experts said today.
However they can also be used as masking agents for other drugs by effectively flushing them out of the system, or to help with weight loss.
Diuretics are banned by major sporting bodies, including the International Olympic Committee.
The only other Australian cricketers to
test positive to banned drugs were West Australian fast bowler Duncan Spencer, who was banned for 18 months for taking the steroid nandrolone, and batsman Graeme Rummans, who received a three-month ban for the antibiotic probenecid.
Rummans was playing for New South Wales at the time and has since moved to Victoria.
AAP