No Pre-Match Fix

Cricket's best-kept secret will not be easy to keep away from the world soon. For the first time in the history of the sport, cricketers will face random drug-testing at the 2003 World Cup event in South Africa in February next year. The move to introduce drug-testing in cricket follows allegations and whispers from around the world about the "unlawful use" of performance-enhancing drugs and the recreational use of illicit drugs by players.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), which has drafted the Anti-Doping Code for 2003, sent the list of banned substances to each of the 14 participating countries a month back. ICC spokesperson Mark Harrison lets on this much: "We are still a couple of weeks away from going public with the full details of the policy and the list of penalties that will apply in the case of a positive test." However, ICC general manager (corporate affairs) Brendan McClements told Outlook: "All the participating nations have agreed to the introduction of the code and, more importantly, all the cricketing boards have started the education process with their players on the issues in the code." By this, players will now have to scrutinise whatever medication they take as many might be taking banned drugs unwittingly in the absence of a doping policy. Currently, the code is undergoing some drafting amendments following recommendations some players and boards offered.

Details available with Outlook point to an expansive list of prohibited substances likely to form part of the code. They include stimulants like caffeine (in high quantities) and amphetamines; anabolic androgenic steroids like nandrolone; non-steroidal anabolic agents; some Beta-2 agonists used for treating asthma which have stimulatory effect; certain local anaesthetics; corticosteroids and narcotic analgesics. Some of these substances are known to increase strength, speed, aggression as well as reduce sensitivity to pain and delay fatigue.

For long, the lack of a coordinated testing process had made it hard for organisers to find out if players were indeed taking substances to improve their performance. While some drugs help boost a cricketer's stamina, other performance-enhancing drugs can help players overcome their playing deficiencies or give them extra zip.

Though experts treat the use of drugs as low risk in the case of cricket when compared to other disciplines like weightlifting, cycling and athletics, both the ICC code and the South African government's doping regulations make testing mandatory at the February 8-March 23 event. Cricketing officials maintain that the code would seek to boost the ICC's authority and infrastructure and put it on par with other sports' ruling bodies. At present, only four—Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa—of the 10 Test-playing nations have a drug policy. The other six—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe—have no anti-doping policy.

The move to introduce random sampling in South Africa could be the first step in the ICC's plans to draw up a permanent doping policy for the game. ICC president Malcolm Gray is already on record saying, "We'll be watching things closely at the World Cup and then decide if one needs to have a uniform doping policy for all cricket-playing countries."

The random testing for the over-one-month-long tourney in South Africa, as McClements pointed out, would be carried out by the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS), an ioc-accredited body authorised to carry out the testing on international standards. SAIDS CEP Daphne Bradbury told Outlook: "Accredited doping control officers from the institute will conduct in-competition testing on a random selection of players from each team at selected matches throughout the country."

Bradbury added that managers of the competing teams were given a "talk" on drug-testing procedures and provided with relevant printed information when they met in South Africa earlier this year. "Competing teams will be given copies of the SAIDS booklet on drug-free sport when they arrive here," she said.

Harrison points out that the "ICC policy will be based on, but not exactly the same as, the process used by the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) for its cricket teams". By that yardstick, the method to be employed for dope-testing will be stringent. UCBSA communications director Bronwyn Wilkinson told Outlook, "We have not yet finalised the terms of penalties but there will be an extensive list of banned substances which is being published."

But according to the list published by SAIDS, the mere possession or the use of anabolic androgenic steroids like nandrolone, dhea, stanozol and boldenone in South Africa invites a 10-year jail sentence or a 40,000 Rand fine or both. Not only do anabolic steroids enhance strength and power, they can also speed up recovery time after injury, allowing users to train harder.

A possible indicator of the penalties in store for players testing positive for any of the banned substances can be gleaned from the example of fast-bowler Duncan Spencer, who failed a drug test in 2001 under the Australian Cricket Board's (ACB) anti-doping code. He was the first player to be suspended and received an 18-month ban from domestic and international cricket after a seven-hour tribunal at the ACB headquarters in Melbourne. He was taking nandrolone while treating his chronic back pain. Under the ACB's anti-doping code, a player found guilty of using performance drugs could be suspended for two years.

Other international players such as England's Ian Botham and South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs have received sanctions for smoking marijuana, while the England and Wales Cricket Board banned Ed Giddins after he tested positive for cocaine.

ICC introduced a pilot scheme for testing players during the under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January this year. "We wanted to know if there was an issue to address," says an ICC official. Says former Indian Test star Dilip Vengsarkar, then a consultant to the under-19 team, "I remember a couple of players testing positive but I don't recall the team to which they belonged." Vengsarkar said the ICC had appointed people to make players aware of the substances not to take and careful of the medication they were undergoing. "Some informal classes were held," he added.

The ICC's maiden venture into dope-testing has on the whole been received well by most cricket board officials and medical experts. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya has welcomed the move. Ditto Anura Tennekoon, chief executive of the Sri Lankan board. "We have got through to the players and are educating them on the harm caused by drugs," he said.

Over a year back, former coach Anshuman Gaekwad had, in an interview to Outlook, said that the "use of steroids and cortisone by players in the Indian team was common". Dalmiya, however, points out that the code was still being discussed and would take a while before being put up before the committee. The physiotherapist for the Indian team, Andrew Leipus, when contacted in Jodhpur, refused to comment on the "education process" the players are going through.

In Pakistan, chief of the cricket board's panel of doctors, Dr Tauseef Razaaq, told Outlook: "We've provided the coach and the boys a list of the banned substances. To avoid inadvertent use, we've also given them clear guidelines on use of substances and what they might consider innocuous. Caffeine, for example, beyond a certain limit, falls into the realm of a performance-enhancing drug." The pcb has appointed Dr Mohammed Riaz, who will be present during the testing of players during the World Cup, and whose job it will be to ensure that samples are collected and sealed correctly.

Razaaq, however, mentioned that players such as Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have genuine problems and their treatment would involve substances on the banned list. "Akram has been a diabetic for the last five years. The glucose level in his body goes so low that oral tablets can never replenish it. So we've sought and been granted use of insulin for him by the ICC," says Razaaq. Akhtar, on the other hand, suffers from grass pollen allergy, which induces asthma. The ICC has been informed of the quantum of substances that need to be increased in his inhaler.

Currently, there is just a general warning against substance abuse from the ICC. As the showpiece event moves to South Africa next year, the council hopes to put a drug-free regime in place.

 

Murali Krishnan With Agha Akbar in Lahore