February 12, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 10, 1423

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POTCHEFSTROOM (South Africa), Feb 11: The World Cup will not be diminished by the departure of Shane Warne, says South Africa captain Shaun Pollock.

“I don’t think it detracts from the World Cup at all,” Pollock said on Tuesday after the Australia leg-spinner pulled out of cricket’s showpiece event after failing a drugs test.

“He’s a big factor and a popular person but there are a lot of great cricketers out here at this tournament and a lot of great cricket is going to be produced.”

Pollock said his entire squad had passed drugs tests before the start of the tournament, with every player fully aware of the dangers of unwittingly using a banned substance.

“It’s pretty easy (to ensure you don’t inadvertently take a banned substance),” he said.

“We’ve been told we can’t take anything without the consent of the physio or the doctor and that’s been the policy for the past few months.

“We had a chat at the start of the season when we knew that we were going to be tested. We were told that the professional way to go about it, if we were at home, was to phone the physio and check it out with him before taking it (the test).”

Warne, the greatest leg-spinner in history and who was expected to play a major role in the cup before retiring from one-dayers to concentrate on Test cricket, failed a test on Jan 22 in Australia.

The test was carried out by the Australian Sports Drug Agency, who informed Warne of the failed test on Monday. He then told the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

If Warne is found guilty, he could face a maximum ban of two years under ACB rules.

South Africa coach Eric Simons was more concerned at the impact the positive test would have on the World Cup as an event, as well as on the player himself.

“It’s terrible news for Shane Warne, for the Australian team and for cricket in general,” said Simons.

“It’s a blow to the tournament as well. If you think of the top players out there, Shane Warne is one of the top three or four in the world.”

“It’s a massive warning to all the players, in terms of how careful you have to be, if a guy of Shane Warne’s stature and professionalism can be caught like this.

“It would be a tragedy for a guy who’s done so much for the game if this was the end of his career. But this is all speculation - we really don’t know what the situation is,” Simons added.

The ICC announced in September that dope testing would be introduced at the cricket World Cup for the first time, in accordance with South African law.—Reuters