By IANS,
Dubai : International Cricket Council’s (ICC) medical committee Sunday recommended revision of the existing anti-doping guidelines in the wake of World Anti Doping Agency’s (WADA) new code which comes into effect from January 2009.
The committee, in its inaugural meeting, discussed the revisions the ICC and its members will need to make their anti-doping codes in light of the new WADA code.
“The committee noted the ICC Full Members’ commitment to have in place WADA-compliant codes by the middle of 2009 and recommended that further consideration should be given to cricket’s current testing strategies outside of major ICC events,” ICC said in a release.
It will also review the medical aspects of the ICC’s anti-doping education programme to ensure the full programme is available for delivery by members to their stakeholders before the ICC Champions Trophy 2008.
The Committee was chaired by renowned sports medicine expert Peter Harcourt and also included Nick Pierce, Akshai Mansingh, Craig Ranson (physiotherapist) and Anant Joshi as members.
The ICC medical committee is empowered to make recommendations which then go forward to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) and, if required, to the ICC board. Both CEC and the ICC board are scheduled to meet in Dubai from June 29.
The committee also debated the standard analysis protocols that support the ICC’s process for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal actions. It set a timetable for the review of these protocols. No changes will be made to the current protocols pending the outcome of this review.
The committee had an extensive discussion on the impact of climatic conditions, including extreme heat. The members agreed that cricket should have a better understanding of the impact of extreme-heat conditions on players and officials and they will review the matter further before making a recommendation.
Strong reservations were also expressed about the use of medical science in the determination of a player’s age at junior ICC events.
The ICC will review its regulations in light of this.