South Africa’s Zubayr Hamza has been suspended for nine months by ICC for breaching its anti-doping policy.
The batter accidentally ingested his father’s heart medication that contained Furosemide A banned substance in cricketing circles.
The suspension rules him out of the tour of England later this year.
Zubayr Hamza has so far played six Tests and a single One-Day International for South Africa and is one of the country’s better cricketing prospects.
In his rebuttal to the International Cricket Council’s Integrity Unit, the batter explained that he intended to take his own anti-allergy medication, but ingested the wrong pill by accident.
The ICC accepted his explanation and as a result reduced his suspension from the usual two years to just nine months, back-dated to March 22 this year.
The 26-year-old will be eligible to resume his career in December this year.
Zubayr Hamza was firmly in contention to have been part of the contingent which will tour England in August and September.
He has been a mainstay of recent South Africa test squads.
“It is a timely reminder to all international cricketers that they remain responsible for anything they put into their bodies, to know exactly what medication they are taking so as to ensure it does not contain a prohibited substance and does not result in an anti-doping rule violation,” Alex Marshall, General Manager of the ICC’s Integrity Unit, said in a statement.
Hamza’s performances between Jan. 17 and March 22 will be expunged from the records, including his scores of 25 and six in the innings and 276-run first test loss to New Zealand in February.
South Africa continues to recover from scandals within its international squad.
Only recently their coach Mark Boucher and former captain Graeme Smith were absolved of racism charges.
