MELBOURNE, Feb 19: Shane Warne is to appear before an Australian Cricket Board (ACB) anti-doping committee on Friday, the ACB said on Wednesday.

Australia’s leading wicket-taker in Tests and One-day Internationals withdrew from the World Cup in South Africa last week after testing positive for a banned diuretic.

The leg spinner said he took a fluid-reducing tablet given to him by his mother last month without knowing it contained a banned substance.

The drugs test was carried out by the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) last month at Sydney Cricket Ground and neither the player nor the ACB knew of the result until Warne arrived in South Africa.

Warne could be banned for two years for taking the diuretic before appearing at a news conference on Jan 22 to announce his retirement from one-day cricket following the World Cup.

The 33-year-old made his comeback from a shoulder injury the next day in a One-day International against England in Sydney.—Reuters