Daijiworld Media Network – London

London, Apr 24: Former New Zealand fast bowler Doug Bracewell has been banned from county cricket for two years after testing positive for cocaine for a second time, with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Cricket Regulator imposing the suspension for an anti-doping violation.

The violation relates to a Division One County Championship match between Essex and Somerset in Chelmsford on September 25, when a sample collected from Bracewell tested positive for cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine at a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in London.

The substances are prohibited in competition under WADA rules.

Bracewell did not possess a Therapeutic Use Exemption for the substance and later admitted to using cocaine on the night of September 24 and into the early hours of the match day, acknowledging it amounted to an anti-doping rule violation.

The charge was brought under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the ECB’s Anti-Doping Rules, covering both presence and use of a prohibited substance.

The Cricket Regulator ruled that the substance use was unrelated to performance enhancement and imposed a two-year suspension in accordance with provisions relating to substances of abuse.
Bracewell accepted the sanction, bringing the case to a close without a formal hearing.

The ban has been backdated to November 24, the date of his provisional suspension, and will remain in force until November 23, 2027. All results recorded by the player between the date of testing and the start of the provisional suspension have been disqualified.

No sanctions have been imposed on Essex County Cricket Club.

Bracewell, who represented New Zealand in 69 internationals between 2011 and 2023, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December. However, the suspension bars him from participating in any cricket-related activity under the jurisdiction of the ECB or bodies governed by WADA.