Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer

MALCOLM SPEED, chief executive officer of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is warning cricketers participating in next year's Cricket World Cup in the West Indies that they face stiff penalties if found using performance-enhancing substances.

With the ICC formally adopting the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code last month, Speed asserted that there could be no doubt about the seriousness of the cricket body's intentions regarding drug use in cricket.

"The fact that we now test at ICC events, it would be very foolish for players to take performance-enhancing drugs. We see athletes who are subject to a very strict regime of testing still perform in a very foolish way and they are caught. I don't believe it would be any different for cricketers," he told The Gleaner.

Dr. Warren Blake, a local WADA representative, has welcomed news that the ICC has now signed the WADA code of conduct, which, he claims, "seeks to level the playing field across all sports".

"I always thought it was unfair for two persons from the same country to be treated differently just because one participates in a sport that abides by the WADA code and the other does not," he said.

But, according to Speed, the ICC has had strict anti-doping measures at all its major championships for several years, starting with the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, in 2002. Subsequently, he said, the same regime was used for the senior World Cup in South Africa, in 2003, the ICC Champions Trophy in England and the 2005 Super Series in Australia.

The first official application of the WADA testing rules by the ICC will be at the Champions Trophy in India in October/November, followed by the World Cup in the West Indies, next March.

Dr. Blake will be part of the medical team that will conduct drug tests during the Jamaica leg of the World Cup.

"We, in conjunction with the international body, will now decide who to test and how many tests will be done", he said, emphasising that the regime to be used will have to be "fair and equally applied to all cricketers."