Warne admits to prior diuretic use

Shane Warne has admitted the banned diuretic which earned him a 12-month ban was not the first time he had taken a fluid tablet.

Warne said he had taken another fluid tablet given to him by his mother Brigitte in early December - before his shoulder injury and more than a month before taking the banned diuretic which threatens to end his career.

The leg-spinner said a previous drug test had shown up small traces of similar substances to those which had emerged in the January 22 sample, for which he was called before an anti-doping panel last Saturday.

Warne said the earlier fluid tablet was taken for the sake of appearance and before his shoulder injury, proving he was not a drug cheat who had taken diuretics to mask other drugs to speed his recovery.

"I was [drug] tested on December 12 which was negative. This was before the injury - I was injured on the 15th," Warne told Channel Nine's A Current Affair.

"It has since came up at the hearing that there were small traces of the same ingredients that I was tested positive for in January.

"I admitted to the hearing that I had taken a tablet in early December.

"I was doing a lot of wine promotions. I'd had a couple too many bottles of wine and had a few late nights.

"I took a fluid tablet then - that was the first time she [Mum] gave it to me. It was to get rid of a double chin. "The December 12 test showed small traces of the same thing. That was before my operation - that proves I didn't take the fluid tablet to mask anything."

In a wide-ranging interview, Warne also admitted being silly for not checking what tablets he was taking, and said he should have listened more to Australian Sports Drug Agency briefings on banned substances.

He also said the 12-month ban from all cricket could cost him around $3 million, but that he was still considering whether or not to appeal.

He was unsure what he would do with his life, but meanwhile had been offered jobs and a cameo role in a movie.

Warne said his only crimes were vanity and "being silly", and again angrily denied taking performance enhancing drugs.

"I've never needed to, I never have and I never will take them."

Warne said he had a letter of appeal ready and written, but was still deciding whether to fight the ban.

He has until Saturday to decide whether to lodge an appeal, which would be heard by the National Sports Disputes Centre. "One side of me says 'get out there, appeal and get less penalty because it's not fair'.

"Another side of me says 'I'm a human being, I want to get on with my life, cop the penalty and just get on with it'. "I don't want to rush into a decision...whether I just spend the 12 months or go away for 12 months, I just don't know at this stage.

"I don't want to be rushed into anything until it's clear what I want to do."