Cricket fails test

Timing of Warne's ban further tarnishes sport

Terry Baddoo is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN International.

Though news of Shane Warne's positive test for a banned substance undoubtedly deserved to be brought into the public domain, I'm bound to ask: Why did it need to happen at the Cricket World Cup?

It goes without saying that the sport's image has been tarnished enough already, what with the furor over England's match in Zimbabwe, New Zealand's refusal to play in Kenya, and the heated debate over the International Cricket Council's exclusive sponsorship demands on the players, which dominated the buildup to the competition.

So surely any opportunity to avert a controversy on the sport's biggest stage should have been grasped with both hands, but it wasn't.

Let me clarify: Warne's initial positive test was taken on January 22, and while it had to be confirmed by the results from a B sample, couldn't the secondary test have been hurried along so as not to embarrass the player, his team, his country and the sport on a world stage?

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It makes no sense.

It's no good the likes of South Africa's captain, Shaun Pollock, claiming that Warne's apparent, if allegedly inadvertent, drug use doesn't detract from the World Cup's image.

Of course it does.

With respect, we're not talking about some no-name from Canada, the Netherlands or one of the other makeweight nations at this tournament.

We're talking about possibly the best-known cricketer in the world, who was deemed so important to the world champion's title defense that the Aussies were prepared to include him in their squad even though he wasn't fully fit.

For sure, there'll be some great cricket played during this tournament, even without Warnie. But come on guys, good news is no news at all in terms of its lasting impression on the audience, and with so much muck flying around at the World Cup.

I believe this is one piece of dirty laundry that should have been washed long before a ball was bowled.

 

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