The International Cricket Council today drew flak from several former cricketers for allowing the Australian team to replace Shane Warne if the tainted spinner was found guilty of taking drugs and banned. Blaming the world champions for the controversy, former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson said the side should be penalised for the debacle and not be allowed a replacement. “I’m not blaming ‘Warnie’ and I am not disappointed in him but the team should be penalised,” Thomson said. “If they had not allowed a replacement they would have had no right to whinge about it. “If he is guilty it should not have been allowed. They should say ‘bad luck’ because of the grounds that he is guilty and what he has done,” Thomson was quoted as saying. Warne, who tested positive for diuretic last month, will face a hearing by a three-member panel this week. Sturt MacGill or Nathan Hauritz are most likely to come in Warne’s place as Dave Richardson, ICC general manager said in a notification that if the spinner was found guilty and banned he can be replaced in Australia’s 15-member squad. Though the ICC said it did not want to penalise a team before their tournament started and would have adopted a tougher stance had Warne played a match, the former players expressed surprise at the decision. “I must say I am surprised they would allow a replacement. I believed you could only seek a replacement if someone was ruled out through injury for the rest of the tournament and the door was also left ajar for things like personal bereavement,” said former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar. “You need a special reason and I don’t believe this is a good enough special reason.” Warne’s Victorian team mate Dean Jones also agreed with Manjrekar. “If the levels were really high I think you have no choice but not to give a replacement. I wouldn’t give a replacement,” Jones said. “I think he is innocent of taking major steroids. He just took a little diuretic and unfortunately he has paid the price.” Warne is awaiting the result of his ‘B’ sample after the ‘A’ sample from a test performed in Sydney last month tested positive for a diuretic. Diuretics are banned because of their ability to conceal performance-enhancing drugs.
