SOUTH AFRICA: CRICKET: Malcolm Speed says all International Cricket Council members need to be World Anti-Doping Agency compliant

Record ID: 454534

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: CRICKET: Malcolm Speed says all International Cricket Council members need to be World Anti-Doping Agency compliant
  • Date: 3rd March 2007
  • Summary: MALCOLM SPEED TALKS TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALCOLM SPEED SAYING: "Yes, it's a big event. It's one of the world's biggest sporting events. We've consciously gone with the format to have 16 teams. The 10 full member countries and six associate teams contesting this World Cup. It's a long event. It's a very good opportunity for our associate member countries to see whether they've bridged the gap. If they have, how far the game now is and where the game is heading in the long term." SHOT OF MALCOLM SPEED'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALCOLM SPEED SAYING: "I think there's a big test for the associate member countries here and before we start to criticise them or before people start to criticise them, I'd like to give them a chance to see how they perform. The gap between the best team and the 16th team will always be huge. Hopefully the gap between the associate member countries and the full member countries has narrowed. But time will tell." MALCOLM SPEED TALKS TO A COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALCOLM SPEED SAYING: "It's always good in an event like this, to have a Cinderella team, to have an upset. I think that Kenya and Scotland, they the two form teams at the moment. They have the potential to upset one of the top teams, but again, time will tell." MORE OF MALCOLM SPEED WITH COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALCOLM SPEED SAYING: "The anti-corruption unit will be out in full force. I think there's a lot to play for in these matches, particularly the earlier round matches. The top teams can't afford to have an upset there because if they go forward with the team that's beaten them, that match counts in the second round of the event but yes, the anti-corruption unit will be there. They'll be very busy. I hope that we have a corruption free tournament but that's what they there for. If there are any issues, they'll deal with it." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALCOLM SPEED SAYING: "What we see with this World Cup is that anyone can win it and Australia's recent loss of form has increased the enthusiasm, the prospects of many other countries, so I think that's a great positive as we move into the event that many teams are coming into it thinking that they have a chance to win it, but if not to win it, to make it through to the semi-finals and do their country proud." MORE OF MALCOLM SPEED WITH COLLEAGUE
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAF391OB10UW106IOAMTKN6494G
  • Story Text: Malcolm Speed said on Friday (March 2, 2007) that the International Cricket Council (ICC) are working with their members to ensure they comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.
    Speed, the CEO of the ICC, was speaking in Cape Town a day after issuing a strongly worded statement in which he said that allowing the Pakistan pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to play despite testing positive for prohibited substances was an embarrassment to the sport.
    In the statement Speed also indicated they would be picked for doping tests in the West Indies at this month's World Cup, although the players were withdrawn from the squad through injury almost immediately after the statement was issued on Thursday.
    "Part of adopting the code is that WADA asked us that we ensure that all of our member boards are WADA compliant within a period of four years. Now we're still in the first year at this stage so we're working with the members to make sure that they have the codes in place," said Speed.
    "The codes are WADA compliant, that was one of the issues that we had with the Pakistani Cricket Board that it had adopted a code but it wasn't WADA compliant."
    Both Shoaib and Asif tested positive for nandrolone last October and were initially banned and than exonerated by in-house committees of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
    However, WADA is challenging the lifting of the suspensions at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and the case is expected to be heard within the next few months
    Also speaking at the news conference was ICC President Percy Sonn, who said he was confident that the West Indies is ready to host the tournament despite the logistical problems caused by holding it on so many different islands.
    "We are playing this World Cup across so many islands with so many venues with so many governments involved, we were all a little bit apprehensive in the beginning but we are also comfortable now that it all came together. That is what cricket is all about. You know, when it gets together, it gets together properly and well and it makes us all feel very good to be able to say the West Indies is ready," said Sonn.
    Talking about the World Cup chances of the associate member countries, Speed said that he was hoping that the gap between them and the full member nations has narrowed.
    "I think there's a big test for the associate member countries here and before we start to criticise them or before people start to criticise them, I'd like to give them a chance to see how they perform. The gap between the best team and the 16th team will always be huge. Hopefully the gap between the associate member countries and the full member countries has narrowed. But time will tell," he said.
    With World Champions Australia suffering recent defeats at the hands of England and New Zealand, Speed says there are a number of teams who will think they have a chance of winning the tournament.
    "What we see with this World Cup is that anyone can win it and Australia's recent loss of form has increased the enthusiasm, the prospects of many other countries, so I think that's a great positive as we move into the event that many teams are coming into it thinking that they have a chance to win it, but if not to win it, to make it through to the semi-finals and do their country proud," he said.
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