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BOWLED HIMSELF OUT

The story of the day is the Australian Cricket board's drug tribunal hearing on Shane Warne's illegal drug use.

The ACB charge says that the champion bowler took an illegal diuretic as a masking agent for other drugs. Warne claims his mother gave him one of her weight-loss pills to lose fluid before a television appearance.

Dick Pound put it best. The chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency and IOC Vice-President said:

" Poisoned by his mother? It is good, very good. It ranks up there with the one ' I got it from the toilet seat'".

As this story has unfolded over the past weeks Warne's position has not been improved, in my opinion, by blatant inconsistencies in his version of events.

I distinctly remember Warne at that hastily arranged press conference in Johannesburg -- an hour before Australia took part in its first match of the World Cup. I distinctly remember him saying his dramatic weight loss in recent months has been solely due to hard work and a new diet.

And yet by the time he arrived back in Australia it's was a fluid loss pill from his mum that was the excuse.

Back in Melbourne he also said " contrary to speculation, taking it had nothing to do with the treatment for my shoulder or for masking any banned substance".

According to Crikey.com.au Warne hired a PR firm of spin (pardon the pun) doctors and that Warne had been giving off the record, off air briefings to selected commentators like Jones in Sydney and Mitchell in Melbourne.

And reportedly the first person he called when he found out the bad news was his television boss-Kerry " Pistol" Packer.

It will be interesting if behind closed doors today Warne trotted out the
"naive and stupid" defence. Probably did.

After all it worked when he got caught out in the unsavoury bookmaker
"weather" scandal.

Friday, February 21, 2003

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2002