Ranatunga fears double standards in Warne scandal

Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take firm action against Shane Warne as the world waits to hear the outcome to the biggest drugs scandal in cricket history.

Ranatunga, famously outspoken during his playing career and now as a television commentator and politician, warned the world's governing body (ICC) that the Asian world would be watching carefully what action would be taken against Warne.

"What interests me more is how the ICC will treat the case," Ranatunga is quoted as saying by the Times News Network. "If Warne was an Asian he would have been buried for sure by now. Whenever an Australian or a white guy does a crime, he is found to be innocent... This one will be tough for the ICC because he's an Aussie."

Warne left the World Cup in apparent disgrace after drug samples revealed that he had consumed a banned diuretic normally used to aid fluid loss or as a masking agent for performance enhancing drugs.

The spin legend, who claims he popped a single pill on the advice of his mother Bridgette, apparently to improve his appearance for a press conference, will discover his fate on Saturday morning when an ACB Anti-Doping committee announce their decision after an eight-hour hearing on Friday.

Warne faces a maximum two years ban if found guilty although he could be reprieved under "exceptional circumstances" according to a clause in the ACB 's anti-doping policy. A two-year ban would almost certainly end the career of the 33-year-old spinner.

Ranatunga, a longtime foe of Warne ever since the leg-spinner claimed that the game would be better off without him prior to the 1999 World Cup, apparently believes that authorities have protected Warne, suggesting a cover-up over his role in the match-fixing scandal.

"It's ridiculous to say that a bookie paid Warne thousands of dollars for a weather report or some information on the wicket," said Ranatunga. "The newspapers have the weather report every day and why should a bookie pay Warne dollars for pitch information."

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) warned Warne after it had emerged that he had accepted cash for pitch and weather information from an Indian bookmaker during Australia's 1994 tour of Sri Lanka

"In Sri Lanka, he just has to stuff a grand into the curators pocket and he will tell you what he has done with the wicket in the whole of last week," added Ranatunga scornfully.