Of drug testing on hair for Aussie cricketers and Lanka sports
greats in Brisbane
 Australia’s star cricketers will be tested for drugs in which AFL
style hair sampling will be used to detect illicit substance use.
There will be 12-month trail of hair testing agreed upon by Cricket
Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association. ACA big man Paul
Marsh briefed the Australian one-day team on the policy change.
According to Marsh, it has been agreed to trial hair-testing for a
12-month period and will review it before they make any decisions for
the future. The new state and national players’ contracts become
effective on July 1 and then the testing will start.
Hair follicles
Drug detection using hair follicles can find use of illicit
substances going back three months, compared with a maximum of five days
using saliva or urine samples.
‘Cricket is a different sport to many in that our players are
travelling all over the world for Australia, county cricket or the
Indian Premier League. The ability to detect illicit drugs in a sample
can be gone very quickly’, said Marsh.
According to Cricket Australia it was a ‘welfare issue’. The AFL
implemented hair follicles testing four years ago. It is understood that
700 players returned positive tests.
In Brisbane
From Adelaide and the interesting meeting with Radley Classen, one of
the three Classen brothers, the others being Brian and Herman, I flew to
Brisbane for the match between Sri Lanka and India at the Gabba.
Incidentally the Gabba was the venue where the first historic Test
match ended in a tie between Australia led by Richie Benaud and the West
Indies led by Sir Frank Worrell in the 1960/’61 series.
In Brisbane I met with Maurice de Silva and Bill Deutrom. Now Maurice
was a household name in rugby in the late 1950s and early 1960s with his
memorable exploits in rugby.
Unassuming Maurice did not want to talk about his deeds in rugby
which are phenomenal. But I remember his dummies and scissors which he
executed to not only baffle his opponents and score, but also fox his
own team mates.
Things of beauty
These ploys were things of beauty and crowds used to flock to see him
in the colours of the Havelock Park Club. Many were the trophies he won
for his club with his dazzling play.
Maurice in addition to his brilliance in rugby also played in the
Peterite- Josephian Big match under the captaincy of the great and
stylish left hander Clive Inman.
Bill Deutrom was a cricketer of repute at Wesley and was a team mate
of Peter Casie Chetty, better known as Peter Christie in the 1962 team
when Peter took a hat-trick against Trinity College.
Peculiar action
Now Peter Christie had a peculiar action as an off spin bowler. ‘He
probably was the first ‘chucker’, said Deutrom poking fun at his former
team mate.Deutrom held one of the catches to help Peter take the
hat-trick. He poked more fun saying that the wickets he took were 10,11
and 12.
Incidentally Peter hailed from my home town Kotahena. Probably St.
Benedict’s College did not want him and so he joined Wesley College. He
was my colleague at the ‘Daily News’. He first made it to France and now
is in Liverpool, believe it or not studying law.
I also met with Camille and Alastair Gonsal and Carl Kronemberg my
former class mate who was a superb gymnast under the famous George
Atkinson.
Observer staffer
From Brisbane to Hobart and then to Melbourne where I met with
another Old Ben and colleague of mine in the Observer Clifford Landers.
Landers was a good left arm paceman, but surprisingly could not make it
to the first team.I also met my former ‘Times’ colleague Trevine
Rodrigo.
Landers told me that half the Sri Lankan population will be at the
MCG with all the paraphernalia cheering the Sri Lanka cricketers and
urging them for another victory like they did when Angelo Mathews and
Lasith Malinga won the game when everything seemed lost when the Lankans
last played at the MCG.
I also happened to meet with Anoma and Marlon Taylor and daughters
Milli and Rochelle, Gayan, Mala and Vajira Fernando and son Ranga and
they took Upala and me to the Crown Casino, where the Allan Border Medal
ceremony was held and the Eureka Tower.
At the Eureka Tower, in less than 40 seconds you will arrive at Level
88 in the fastest lifts in the Southern Hemisphere and be amazed by the
awesome views of Melbourne from the floor to ceiling windows.
More about the Eureka Tower
= Skydeck 88 is the highest public vantage point in the Southern
Hemisphere.
= Eureka is 984.3ft / 300 metres in height.
= The top of the Tower can flex up to 600mn in high winds.
= The 300,000 litre water tanks on level 90 and 91 prevent any excess
swaying.
= The lifts travel at more than 9 metres per second making them the
fastest in the Southern Hemisphere.
= 3,680 stairs – 92 storeys – 52,000 sq metres of windows .
= The glass on Eureka’s top 10 levels is 24 carat gold plated.
= Eureka used 110,000 tonnes of concrete and weighs 200,000 tonnes.
= Eurkha’s white horizontal lines represent the linear line markings
on a surveyor’s measuring staff.
Visitors to Melbourne must not miss visiting the Eureka Tower.
[email protected]
|
