Tharanga tests positive during World Cup

Upul Tharanga, the Sri Lanka opening batsman, will face an ICC inquiry after testing positive for a banned substance during the 2011 World Cup, ESPNcricinfo understands. The cricketer is reported to have tested positive for prednisolone, a drug that is used to treat asthma, a condition from which he is said to suffer.

Sri Lanka Cricket's Interim Committee secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, however, denied any knowledge of the incident. "Officially we know nothing about the case," he told Sunday Times, a Sri Lankan newspaper. "SLC has not received any complaints or reports about the use of the banned substance called prednisolone from any organisation or agency." The ICC refused to make an official comment about the case.

Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lanka allrounder, said the allegations are not an issue to the team in England even though Tharanga is likely to be part of the one-day squad. "We haven't spoken about it as a team, so it hasn't been a distraction," he said after the fourth day's play in Cardiff. "We're here to do a job and here to play a good test match. We're planning to do well in this Test match and we're not bothered about what is outside."

"He's a nice guy, a quiet guy, he's come to the UK a few times and played pretty well, and in the World Cup he has done well," Maharoof added. "He's an established opening batsman in our team, and he's a genuine guy."

According to the ICC's anti-doping code, "It is each player's personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his/her body. A player is responsible for any prohibited substance found to be present in his or her sample. Accordingly, it is not necessary that intent, fault, negligence or knowing use on the player's part be demonstrated in order to establish an anti-doping violation under Article 2.1; nor is the player's lack of intent, fault, negligence or knowledge a defence to a charge that an anti-doping rule violation has been committed under Article 2.1."

However, if a player needs to take a drug that is on the World Anti-Doping Authority's (WADA's) banned list in order to treat an illness, he is required to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). The Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (TUEC) evaluates all applications for TUEs received by ICC.

Under the dope-testing process, if a player's A sample is found to contain a banned substance, he will have the option of asking for his B sample to be tested as well. If his B sample is also found to be positive, then the player could face a provisional suspension until the ICC carries out its inquiry; if the B sample is negative, the investigation is discontinued. It is uncertain how far into the process the ICC is with regard to the Sri Lankan cricketer.