Middlesex spinner Phil Tufnell was today cleared to take his place in England's tour party for the Caribbean after receiving a suspended sentence and a fine from a disciplinary panel hearing at Lord's investigating his failure to follow anti-doping procedures.
The five-man panel found there was insufficient evidence that Tufnell had deliberately failed to give a sample at Middlesex's final championship match of the season at Chelmsford.
After a two-hour hearing, Tufnell was cleared of two charges claiming that he deliberately left the ground to avoid taking the drugs test but he pleaded guilty to failing to submit a sample.
He was fined #1000 and ordered to pay a further #250 costs and was given a suspended ban until April 1, 1999 - providing he submits to two random drugs tests in the remainder of this year and in 1998 and neither result is positive.
It will be a great relief to Tufnell, who claimed he had tried to give a sample at tea and failed, but forgot to return at the end of the day and left the ground feeling ill after being stung by a wasp.
Had he been found guilty, it would almost certainly have meant his withdrawal from the Caribbean tour and possibly the end of his England career less than two months after claiming an 11-wicket match haul to as England won the final Ashes Test at the Oval.
''This sends out a message to the players that refusing to turn up for a test is not good enough,'' said Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
''He was keen to give his side of the story and had a word with me from his holiday in Spain and told me he was not at all well on that day and said his mind was in a bit of a turmoil."
In a statement, the disciplinary panel claimed Tufnell had ''accepted the seriousness of failing to complete the test.''
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