Age testing comes under ICC scrutiny

The current method adopted for verifying the age of cricketers has come under scrutiny from the ICC's medical council, which met in Dubai recently to discuss a variety of issues that impact the performance of an athlete.

The topic of cricketers' legitimate age has long been debated, especially in the subcontinent, with India and Pakistan doing exceedingly well in age-group tournaments like the Under-19 World Cup.

At the moment a player's age is determined by using X-rays, a method the five-member panel thought was absolutely unscientific. "Presently X-rays of the growing ends of the bone or the dental X-rays are used to determine the player's age which was unanimously turned down by the committee. The margin of error can be as much as one or two years", Dr Anant Joshi, the Indian representative, told Cricinfo.

The alternative, the committee recommended, was to go by verification of authentic papers like the passport, date of birth certificate and any other relevant papers at every possible instance. Joshi, who is also the BCCI's medical consultant, said discrepancies could take place using this method, too, but it was a much better procedure.

The other major concern the committee discussed was the drug-testing methods in the subcontinent. "Drug-testing methods at least in the subcontinent are not to the mark and we don't have any WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] approved testing procedures in place," Joshi said. "India doesn't have a facility which is as organised as it should be."

In addition to discussing the revisions - the ICC's members will need to make to their anti-doping codes in light of the new WADA code which comes into effect from January 2009 - the committee recommended that further consideration should be given to cricket's current testing strategies outside of major ICC events.

The recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) drew up an anti-doping code based on the WADA code. But the fact that the IPL was a domestic competition and the BCCI has no anti-doping law in place, it meant the testing sanctions would be irrelevant if a player would've tested positive.

"[In] any event that is approved by the ICC [it] will be mandatory to carry out random doping tests," Joshi said. "If the ICC wants WADA approval then they will have to enforce drug testing as part of the process." According to Joshi setting up a drug testing facility according the WADA standards is "extremely expensive" but he said New Delhi "might have a drug testing facility soon".

The packed international schedule has prompted the ICC to become more stringent, trying to maintain world standards with regard to player testing. The nandrolone issue surrounding Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, during the previous Champions Trophy, only highlighted the importance of addressing the problem.

The medical panel felt the best way to start educating people and laying down rules was to begin at the grassroots. "For the testing procedures to be enforced at the world level without telling the grass-root player the implications of the taking a particular drug or a test is wrong because if he isn't aware he could be caught and disqualified for no fault of his.

"It might not be an intentional abuse of the drug; it might be instead an accidental abuse as his doctor might not have known that particular drug shouldn't have been prescribed. So we felt the need to educate players and cricket bodies starting at the grass-root level."

The committee was chaired Dr Peter Harcourt, a prominent expert in sports medicine, and also included Dr Nick Peirce, Dr Akshai Mansingh, andCraig Ranson [a physiotherapist].