The Hindu : Aussies bound to miss Warne

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 13, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Aussies bound to miss Warne

By K. Srikkanth

What a sad sight it was watching Shane Warne leaving the World Cup under a drug cloud. All due to what could have easily been a silly mistake.

He has been among the most influential cricketers of our times, and I am sure a lot of kids, especially down under, would have taken up leg-spin because of him.

Looking back, it probably could have been an unfortunate sequence of events that might have resulted in Warne getting into such big trouble. The shoulder injury he suffered in the VB Cup triangular series and the need to race against time to be fit before the World Cup.

Along the way, he could have unknowingly consumed a banned substance. At this stage, we do have to give him the benefit of doubt.

I will always remember him as a champion leg-spinner, and I must add that a genius like him, with glorious skills as a match-winning bowler, does not have to take performance-enhancing drugs to further his career.

It is surprising that the Australian Cricket Board did not get the tests done earlier. It would have been so much better for everyone had the results of the dope tests come before the team travelled to Southern Africa.

The fact that Shane Warne had to leave the big stage after the event had begun does put the ACB in the dock. It has some difficult questions to answer, considering that the ACB has often taken the high moral ground.

The loss of someone as significant as Warne is a huge loss for the tournament, and the Aussies are bound to miss him in the later stages of the competition, if the leggie's `B' sample also turns positive.

However, the manner in which the Aussies regrouped after seeing one of their prized cricketers depart only hours before the key game against Pakistan, is admirable. A fine example of the famous Aussie mental toughness.

There has been plenty of drama in Warne's soap opera like career, he has come through difficult situations in the past, and it would be unwise to write him off. I would prefer to wait and watch.

The cancellation of the England-Zimbabwe match could have been avoided. In future teams that refuse to play should be penalised severely, and I would not be unhappy if a two-year ban from international cricket is imposed on such nations.

I feel sides like England and New Zealand are making a big fuss though it must be said that these are issues that should have been sorted long ago, especially in an event as significant as the World Cup.

It does ICC little credit that it had been indecisive for so long.

We did have a game in Zimbabwe, where the host defeated Namibia, and the situation will certainly not be all that bad as made out in certain quarters. We are only talking about staging a cricket match there, without getting mixed up with the political and economic issues.

www.kris-srikkanth.com

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport