ACB chief, Warne discuss harassment scandal

Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chief Executive Malcolm Speed and Shane Warne have spoken to one another about the alleged claims of sexual harassment centring upon the star leg spinner. Through a telephone call made by Speed on Tuesday night Australian time, the two briefly discussed the furore created this week by the harassment scandal in which Warne has become embroiled.

At this stage, no detailed information about the telephone call (other than confirmation that it has occurred) is being released publicly by the Board. For the moment, disciplinary action has also not been considered. The ACB has instead stated that the majority of the conversation focused upon matters associated with Warne's newly awarded annual contract with the Board - a process which is currently being undertaken with each of the twenty-five players the ACB has signed for the next twelve months.

A more definitive response to the allegations will wait until Speed and Warne meet in person in England shortly. That meeting will probably occur later this month when a break in Warne's playing commitments for English county side Hampshire and Speed's responsibilities at an International Cricket Council meeting in London coincide.

The allegations of harassment were first aired last Saturday when a British newspaper printed accusations from 22 year old nurse, Donna Wright, that Warne had bombarded her mobile telephone with "disgusting" messages after he had earlier met the Leicester woman in an English nightclub. For his own part, the Victorian continues to remain tight-lipped about the matter in all of his public appearances in Britain.