Andre Russell May Receive Extended Ban

West Indies cricket all-rounder Andre Russell faces the prospect of receiving an extension on his doping ban to two years. This was after an appeal was made by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) over the original sanction.

A doping ban of one year was handed out to Russell in January after he was found guilty of breaking anti-doping whereabouts regulations three times in a 12-month period which, under the code, classed as a failed test. Presently, the ban on Russell runs until January 30, 2018.

JADCO chief executive Carey Brown remarked that an appeal has been filed by his organization with Jamaica’s five-member anti-doping Appeals Tribunal.

Russell, who has played for the in the last two editions of the KFC Big Bash League, has played across different Twenty-Twenty cricket format. Sydney Thunder director of cricket Mike Hussey said the star West Indian cricketer had “been to hell and back” dealing with the anti-doping charge and recent injury issues. Hussey also said he had been going through a really tough time of late with all the ‘whereabouts’ saga going on and he’s been waiting to hear the finding of that hearing. Hussey added hopefully get this saga over and behind him, he gets cleared and he can get on living his life and getting back to really enjoying his cricket again. The Sydney Thunder director of cricket also commented that Russell had gone through a really tough time and he just wants him to get better and get his life back on track.

Russell, who plays for the West Indies internationally and for Jamaica in West Indian domestic cricket, bats predominantly in the middle order for the West Indies. The all rounder made his debut against Sri Lanka in November 2010 and made his ODI debut in the match against Ireland at Mohali.

Russell has received support from different quarters. The cricketer, who also plays for the IPL team , received the support of the Team CEO Venky Mysore said the team has decided to retain the all-rounder in this auction despite him missing out on this edition of the tournament.

The team could have easily released the cricketer and went into the recently-concluded auction with an increased purse, but it decided against it and retained Russell. The CEO of Knight Riders said it is unfortunate that Russell has received a sanction for what he would call an administrative error. Kolkata Knight Riders have bought good replacements for him with the likes of Chris Woakes, Trent Boult, and Nathan Coulter-Nile signing for them in the auction.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ top-order batsman Manish Pandey also praised Russell. Pandey remarked Russell has played a big role in some of the games and added he had been the match-winner for us for a long time and his absence would be a bit of worry for us. Pandey, who won the IPL-2014 for KKR, also said we have players who may not be better than him but have similar abilities and talent replacing him and also commented that it will be a good tournament and mix of players.