Two Zimbabwe cricketers Suspended After Flunking Dope Test

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Two Zimbabwe all-rounders Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta were suspended with immediate effect in an official announcement by the Zimbabwe cricket board over the alleged breach of anti-doping rules.

"Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has with immediate effect suspended two Zimbabwe international players from all cricket activities, pending a hearing, for allegedly breaching anti-doping rules," a statement from ZC read.

In a recent in-house doping test, the two players in question, Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta, tested positive for a prohibited recreational drug in an out-of-competition case. Following the dope test in an out-of-competition case, both players have been suspended from all cricket-related activities until their hearing.

"They have been charged under the ZC Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials and will appear for a disciplinary hearing soon," it further read.

Mavuta made his international debut in 2018 and has since played four Tests, 12 One-Day Internationals, and ten Twenty20 Internationals, while Madhevere, who first represented Zimbabwe in 2020, has played two Tests, 36 One-Day Internationals, and 60 T20I.

While Mavuta did not play any competitive cricket following the Ireland series, Madhevere played for Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe's first-class competition, the Logan Cup, and scored four runs and took two wickets.

The suspensions of Madhevere and Mavuta came a day after Zimbabwe's head coach Dave Houghton quit after the country failed to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup after also failing to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

-With inputs from PTI