Cricket Australia distance themselves from Warne

The chief executive of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, has gone out of his way to distance his organisation from the increasingly scandal-prone Shane Warne.

Warne, who is currently serving a 12-month ban for drug misuse, has still been hogging the Australian headlines in recent weeks. He is currently embroiled in a series of murky allegations of sexual harassment, involving 16-year-old girls, exotic dancers and South African "hairy-backed sheilas" (in the immortal words of David Hookes). It is clear that Cricket Australia consider him to be a liability.

"Any association [Warne] has with the Australian team at present is something I'm not comfortable with," admitted Sutherland to the Sydney Morning Herald. "The Australian team is not going to train in Australia until the lead-in to the Perth Test [against Zimbabwe] in October, and our worlds are going to collide when they next train in Melbourne, in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test match."

Sutherland added: "We're clear we can't fly him to training sessions or provide him with support in the form of direct assistance in order for him to train. We would be in breach of the sanctions in our own anti-doping policy."

Nevertheless, Warne has resumed training with his state side, Victoria, and it is only a matter of time before he is invited back into the Australian fold. "We believe it may be appropriate in certain circumstances for Shane Warne to train with the Australian team," said Sutherland. "It's a pretty open-ended matter. But I'm not sure what those circumstances would be, to be frank."

Warne's 12-month ban expires in Feb 2004, and he is sure to feature heavily in the selectors' thoughts in the coming months. But Sutherland did not envisage a swift reunion. "It needs to be something the team, coach and selectors are comfortable with. But we don't anticipate we will invite him to train in the short run."