Warne sent home from World Cup

HAMPSHIRE chairman Rod Bransgrove has insisted that Shane Warne would continue to receive the county’s full support following the news that he had been sent home from the World Cup after failing a drugs test.

Warne has flown home for further tests after testing positive for a banned diuretic in a test taken last month as he battled to regain fitness after dislocating his shoulder in December.

The Australian leg spinner is due to take over from Robin Smith as Hampshire's new captain this season but could now be prevented from doing so if he is banned.

Bransgrove said he was stunned when he was told of Warne's plight and believes the player would never consider taking a performance-enhancing drug Bransgrove said: "I'm convinced Shane Warne would never take a drug to enhance his performance. I think this is a mistake and a very costly mistake.

"Apart from Robin Smith, I know Shane as well as anyone in this country and he is not a drug abuser.

"I haven't spoken to Shane but I know he is quite confident he will be able to convince the ACB (Australian Cricket Board) that there has been no wrong-doing on his part.

"Hopefully, he will be able to rejoin the Australian team before the end of the World Cup and he has the full backing of Hampshire Cricket Club."

Warne is scheduled to arrive in England for his second season with Hampshire in May.

Bransgrove added: "It will be a big loss if Shane isn't with us for next season. We have built our plans around him and losing him would be a major setback, but we would have to find a way around it," he said.

Mike Gatting, the man famously bamboozled by Warne's first-ever delivery in Test cricket in England, believes the Australian's failed drugs test is nothing more than an honest mistake.

Former England captain Gatting, whose dismissal to Warne's Ball of the Century 10 years ago brought the young bowler to immediate public attention, told Sky Sports News:

"I can't believe Shane Warne would do that I don't think it's anything more than an honest mistake. I know the Australian Cricket Board is against performance-enhancing drugs and are trying to stamp down on it.

"He'll be a huge loss to the Australian team. But I think he's done exactly the right thing going back to Australia to sort it out it should relieve the pressure on the Australian team," he said.

While acknowledging the strength of the World Cup favourites, Gatting believes the loss of Warne will be felt by the Baggy Greens.

He continued: "They've played and managed to win without him before but with him they are a much more potent force.

"Any side will miss someone of his calibre, he's a worldclass leg-spinner.

"I can't believe we won't see any more of Shane Warne. We won't see him in one-day cricket any more of course but we'll see him in the Test arena."

And former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy failed to accept that Warne's involvement at the World Cup was at an end.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Until the B sample is analysed he could still play at the World Cup. It (the failed test) had nothing to do with his shoulder."

And Australian captain Ricky Ponting, speaking before the Aussies' World Cup opener against Pakistan, said his side were trying to put the issue to the back of their minds.

He said: "It's been a little disappointing for it to happen the way that it has. We just have to get on with things. We've got a big game of cricket and we've got to keep this completely out of our minds," said Ponting.