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MELBOURNE, Feb 22 AAP – Shane Warne was found guilty of a drugs charge by an Australian Cricket Board anti-doping committee today and suspended for 12 months.Warne, 33, tested positive for a diuretic on January 22, the day he announced his retirement from one-day cricket.He claimed to have been given the tablet by his mother Brigitte, who gave evidence in his defence yesterday.The three-person ACB committee chaired by Queensland judge Glen Williams found the charge against Warne of using a prohibited method to be proven.The 12-month ban starts on February 10 and rules Warne out of the World Cup and upcoming Test series against the West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, India and Sri Lanka.Warne has seven days to decide whether to appeal the finding and the verdict.The Australian selectors will now name a replacement for Warne in the 15-man World Cup squad.The most likely replacements would be Queensland off-spinner Nathan Hauritz or New South Wales leg-spinner Stuart MacGill.The three-person ACB panel sat for eight hours yesterday hearing evidence before adjourning their decision until today.The official announcement was made shortly after 1pm (AEDT).Diuretics are banned because they can be used to mask other illegal drugs.Warne was officially charged with using a prohibited method, which carries a minimum two-year ban.But there was scope for him to be given a lesser sentence under an “exceptional circumstance” clause in the anti-doping policy.ACB chief executive James Sutherland was due to make a statement at ACB headquarters in Jolimont this afternoon to explain the finding.Warne will also read a statement, but it was unclear whether he would be taking questions.The ban covers all organised cricket.In addition to international matches, the 33-year-old leg-spinner is also ineligible to play for Victoria, English county Hampshire or his local district club St Kilda for the next 12 months.Warne announced on February 11 in South Africa that he had tested positive to the diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride.He flew home from the World Cup later that day without playing a single game to prepare his defence.On arriving back in Australia, Warne said his mother gave him a tablet which contained the diuretics to which he tested positive.To escape without penalty, Warne needed to convince the anti-doping hearing that he held an “honest and reasonable belief” that he was not breaking the ACB’s drug code.Australian chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said Warne’s World Cup replacement had already been decided upon and could be made public as early as later today.Sutherland said the full results of the hearing would be published at a later date.The anti-doping panel found “no exceptional circumstances which would justify the charges being dismissed”, according to the ACB boss.”The mere presence of diuretics constituted use of a prohibited method,” he said, adding that the case was a very complex one and that the ACB was comfortable with the finding.”Generally no-one is happy about the circumstances of this case, no-one can be happy,” said Sutherland.

Craig McMillan has been thrown a lifeline and included in the New Zealand 12 for today’s World Cup game against South Africa in what selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee describes as the biggest selection decision of the year.McMillan, who was dropped for the match against the West Indies, has been in poor form for most of the summer.”Craig is acutely aware of the significance of tomorrow’s match not only for the team but for his own future,” Hadlee said in a thinly-veiled reference as strong as anything made in his tenure as selection chairman.McMillan will bat down the order in what is another vital game for New Zealand which has reconfirmed its stance on not playing in Kenya.Coming into the side for the match at Johannesburg’s Wanderers’ Stadium is pace bowler Kyle Mills, who has kept Daryl Tuffey out of the side while McMillan’s selection is at the expense of Chris Harris.The team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.Hadlee has likened the importance of the match to a World Cup final.”If we lose this game, the reality is we’re not likely to progress any further in the tournament.”The destiny of the players’ is in their own hands and they know it.”We need to make history tomorrow by beating South Africa for the first time on their own soil [in a One-Day International] and, at the same time, the team will give themselves a very good chance of progressing to the Super Six stage of the tournament.”A win for the TelstraClear Black Caps will also put tremendous pressure on South Africa making the Super Six.”Meanwhile, New Zealand have said ‘No’ to playing in Kenya on Friday and are seeking ways of having the match rescheduled for South Africa.An important factor in their confirmation of their stance announced before the World Cup started has been the assessment of New Zealand Cricket’s security expert Reg Dickason.Dickason has been in South Africa in recent days during meetings with NZC chief executive Martin Snedden, the South African Police force and members of the Kroll security group.Snedden has also been in lengthy discussions with International Cricket Council executives and South African and Kenyan cricket representatives.”Mr Dickason’s assessment, having reviewed all the material available, is that the risk to player safety is still too high,” Snedden said.”The New Zealand Cricket Board, in making its decision today, has acted on that advice.””NZC has not given up hope of the game being rescheduled and will continue to work with the ICC on this issue over the next few days.”If the final decision is that the game will not be rescheduled, then the points issue will be addressed at that stage,” he said.

IT WAS like taking candy from a baby.For the second successive day, Trinidad and Tobago were a mere imitation of a first-class team in their top-of-the-table Carib Beer Series match at Kensington Oval yesterday.On a day when the most prestigious horse race in the southern Caribbean was run off, table leaders Barbados flogged what seemed to be a “dead horse”.The runs were flowing as rapidly as Thady Quill was romping to victory in the Sandy Lane Gold Cup at the Garrison Savannah.In the first session, Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell duly completed centuries and established a modern era record opening stand of 246.Between lunch and tea, it was the turn of Floyd Reifer and Ryan Hinds to inflict more punishment on the hapless Trinis.In the evening period, Dwayne Smith and Courtney Browne added more lashes.By the time Browne made the declaration at 4:35 p.m. after Barbados enjoyed the satisfaction of becoming the first team to post a total of more than 500 this season, 354 runs were reeled off in 66 overs at close to five-and-a-half runs an over.Trailing by 355 on first innings after Browne declared with Barbados on 502 for nine, Trinidad and Tobago suffered some uncomfortable moments in the 19 overs they faced before bad light halted play at 5:57 p.m. with three overs remaining.At 47 for one, a second successive defeat was staring the visitors in the face.It could come as early as today and it will allow them enough time to get back to their homeland to participate in Carnival celebrations.Trinidad and Tobago, second in the standings, were terribly flat in the field yesterday.Between the start and lunch, 132 runs were scored, and between lunch and tea, another 136 were added.Fast bowler Marlon Black and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, Test players in the recent past, came in for some stick against the rampaging Bajans.It was the same story for the youngsters, Ravi Rampaul and Dwayne Bravo.To his credit, teenager Bravo took his licks like a man and was eventually rewarded with four of the first five wickets. He finished with five for 95 off 16 overs, but his last scalp was taken in controversial circumstances.Wicket-keeper Navin Chan claimed a low catch to account for Ryan Hurley, but to those in the Peter Short Media Centre who had an excellent view, it appeared as if the ball had fallen out of the Chan’s gloves. Those in the Kensington Stand were even more certain.By then, Trinidad and Tobago had been fully deflated by Barbados’ enterprising batting.Campbell was the more aggressive in the first hour, his powerful driving through the off-side bringing him on even keel with Wallace after his partner started the day 16 runs ahead.Campbell arrived at his 24th first-class century at 11:10 a.m. and Wallace achieved the milestone for the 11th time in his career in the next over.Their stand broke the previous best by a Barbadian opening pair – 166 – since the sponsorship of regional first-class cricket in 1966.The previous record belonged to Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (who had two stands of 166) and to Robin Bynoe and Geoffrey Greenidge.Campbell fell soon after his hundred when his attempted cut off Bravo was caught on the cover-boundary.Wallace swung Ramnarine over backward square-leg for two of his three sixes before Bravo bowled him off the pads with a ball of fullish length.His 140 off 186 balls was made in four hours and was the highest of his eight regional first-class hundreds, while Campbell’s 103 included ten fours and a six from 150 balls in 217 minutes’ batting.Kurt Wilkinson’s wretched season continued when Ramnarine bowled him behind his back for six, but left-handers Hinds and Reifer enjoyed the syrup that was being served up by adding 82 for the third wicket.Hinds stroked seven fours in 43 off 72 balls, while Reifer’s 45 off 51 balls contained four boundaries and a towering six over long-off against off-spinner Mukesh Persad that cleared the Pickwick Pavilion.Reifer also had a thumping drive through extra-cover off Bravo that sounded like a gun shot. It was, without a doubt, the shot of the day.After Reifer skied a catch to mid-on and Hinds edged a catch to slip, the exciting Smith (46 from 41 balls) and Browne (35 from 23 balls) featured in a stand of 79 in next to no time before both fell to Black.Smith was prised out by a superb running catch by Daren Ganga at mid-on and Browne was lbw on the back foot two balls later.

The Sharjah Cup tri-series tournament in the United Arab Emirates, scheduled to commence from April 1, could be in serious danger of being called off after South Africa announced their withdrawal on Monday.South Africa, who were scheduled to play against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the biannual Sharjah event, have opted to pull out because of fears of player safety following the outbreak of war on Iraq.”We value our players and officials and we cannot continue with the tour when there is concern about their safety,” Gerald Majola, chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, told Reuters in a press statement.”We received an advisory from the Department of Foreign Affairs informing us not to travel to the Gulf region under the current circumstances prevailing there.”We are, however, engaged in discussions with the tournament organisers as to possible alternative venues and or dates for the tournament to be held,” Majola said.Pakistan, who like South Africa, named a revamped squad led by Rashid Latif, following their failure to progress beyond the preliminary round of the World Cup in southern Africa, may have second thoughts regarding taking part in the competition if Sri Lanka also opt to stay at home.It may be mention here that Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a two-match series way back in December 1990 when India and the West Indies withdrew from a scheduled quadrangular tournament in Sharjah after the war broke out in the Gulf region as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.Pakistan cricket suffered huge financial losses since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US with various countries expressing their reservation to tour this part of the world for security reasons.Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who had otherwise spent precious public money on numerous ludicrous ventures like foreign coaches and consultants in a futile attempt to the nation’s cricket fortunes, may still want its team to participate in next month’s tournament.But in case, Sri Lanka follow the example of South Africa and subsequently decide to stay in the safety of their home, Pakistan will be left playing against the likes of Kenya and Bangladesh in what would certainly then be a devalued competition.Meanwhile Pakistan will not pull out of next month’s triangular tournament.”Pakistan has no plans to pull out of the tournament even though we have been informed by the organisers that South Africa has withdrawn its team because of the Iraq war,” said a PCB spokesman.

The ECB is pleased to be able to report that in the Frizzell County Championship match at Riverside today, Durham Captain Jonathan Lewis acted within the Spirit of Cricket in exercising his discretion to allow Derbyshire CCC to change their side after it had been nominated to the umpires.Derbyshire batsman Chris Bassano was taken unwell after the nomination of the teams before he had even had the chance to take to the field of play and it was subsequently established that Chris would not be able to play any part in the match. Under Law 1.2 Derbyshire were only entitled to a fielding substitute, with a fully participating substitute only permitted with the consent of the Durham Captain.MCC’s preamble to the Laws of Cricket entitled ‘The Spirit of Cricket’ and Laws 1.4 and 42.1 state that ‘the captains are responsible at all times for ensuring that play is conducted within the Spirit of the Game as well as within the Laws’. In giving his consent for Steven Selwood to replace Chris Bassano in the Derbyshire line-up Jonathan Lewis provided a strong lead in upholding the spirit of the game.It is hoped that Chris Bassano will be fully recovered within a week.

Channel 4 have successfully arranged for an early start to the semi-finals of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. Both matches will now start at 10.15am, in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the situation in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Lord’s, when live transmission was cut on the dot of 6 o’clock.Gloucestershire’s match against Derbyshire will be broadcast live from Bristol on Thursday, August 7, with Worcestershire’s home tie against Lancashire following two days later. Reserve days have been allocated for both matches to avoid, if possible, the use of the Duckworth/Lewis system to engineer a result.Speaking after the Lord’s Test, Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the ECB, had expressed his disappointment at Channel 4’s failure to provide full coverage, and had raised the possibility of an earlier start to England Test matches, which have already been brought forward to 10.45am this year.”We are seriously considering [Channel 4’s] requirements and we will be discussing a 10.30am start as of from next year,” said Lamb. “It is very disappointing when we don’t see the end of play live on TV, but we are talking to Channel 4 in an atmosphere of cooperation and consultation. We understand the constraints they are working under in terms of scheduling, particularly when they are trying to attract that important early evening 18 to 34-year-old audience.”Thursday, August 7 Gloucestershire v Derbyshire at Bristol
Saturday, August 9 Worcestershire v Lancashire at WorcesterBoth matches begin at 10.15am

The Crusaders, led by Swan Richards, left off where they had finished their 2001 tour to Europe – with a convincing win against Vienna CC in glorious conditions in Seebarn. In 2001, Simon Burriss and Liam Buchanan had proven to be the principle stars, Buchanan scoring 115 off 85 balls, and this time around it was the Essendon trio of Aaron Mato, Clinton McKay and Brent Hutchinson, who starred with the bat.The Crusaders squad once again boasted an impressive line-up, with a whole array of up and coming Australian talent, many of whom have played for Australia U19, and with Victoria’s Assistant Coach, Greg Shipperd, who himself was a seasoned Sheffield Shield cricketer, and Shaun Graf (Hampshire CCC, Western Australia and Victoria) also amongst the tour leaders.Hutchinson was returning to Vienna where he had spent some time during 2002, and to the ground on which he had scored 80 off 52 balls on his début for Vienna CC. McKay’s undefeated 83 and Mato’s innings of 45 helped to set a demanding target of 240 in 40 overs, with Gary Stevens having the impressive figures of 8-4-15-2, removing both of the openers, although he was unable to bat due to an injury in the field, the score being boosted by some very clean-hitting at the end of the innings.Vienna CC and Austrian National Team captain Andrew Simpson-Parker scored 89 in only 76 balls, but was 6th out with the score on 132, but by that stage too many wickets had fallen at the other end, and despite cameos from Michi Nedoma, Paul Hudson and Parivesh Padhe, Vienna CC finished some 64 runs short of the target in their allotted overs.On the neighbouring pitch, Five Continents CC, playing a league match against last year’s Open League runners-up, Pakistan CC, won by 5 runs, with their 224-9 proving to be just out of reach for Pakistan CC. During the interval of that game both teams were able to watch the masterful Crusaders batting display. As ever, it is an honour to welcome the Crusaders to Austria, on their European tour, with their team proving a great example to cricketers in Austria, both in terms of technique and the spirit in which the players play the game.

Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the decision taken in 2001 by Sports Minister Katana Ngala, to dissolve the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA), was illegal – the decision itself has been revoked.The dispute had begun when the KCA had cancelled the contracts of its professional players after they threatened to boycott a match against Sri Lanka in January 2001. Ngala had stepped in and appointed Nairobi lawyer Paul Ndung’u as head of a new administration which included Sharad Rao, S V Sarvaiya, Tom Tikolo and Sameer Inamdar.This group were to document the dispute between the KCA, its players and its members while also reporting on the KCA finances. The matter reached the courts when the original committee, led by Jimmy Rayani, sought legal advice and decided to challenge the decision taken by the Minister. As a result, the Minister’s move was put on hold pending a full hearing of the case.In her ruling, Justice Jean Gacheche said that the Minister had acted ‘ultra vires’ – beyond his power – and outside his jurisdiction as defined by the constitution of the Kenya National Sports Council. The Justice said that Ngala had flouted the rules of natural justice by not according the association the audience it was entitled to before appointing an investigation commission.The International Cricket Council and Kenya’s Olympic Committee both backed the right of the Kenya Cricket Association to deal with their own affairs. At the time of the Minister’s move the secretary-general of Kenya’s National Olympic Committee, Tom Omwombo, said that if there was dissatisfaction with the way a sport was run, it was up to the affiliates of that sport to employ democratic processes to effect change.

IN Memoriam:To the Campbell family and friends.Andrew Campbell, brother of Sakatchewan Cricket Association former President, Collin Campbell, died in a boating accident last Saturday. Autopsy and other details are still incomplete.Memorial services are scheduled to be held in Fort MacMurray and in Regina, Saskatchewan.Funeral services are scheduled to be held in Mississauga, Ontario on Saturday 9th August, 2003.To the Fakira Family:CCA Senior National Selector and former Director, Teddy Fakira, has received news of the death of a brother in Trinidad & Tobago, due to coronary disease.This is the second death for this family in the past month.We extend our sincere condolences to these families from the Cricket communities in Canada.