Hampshire’s Keith Barker has said he “feared for the loss of my career” during a nine-month wait to learn his punishment for a failed drug test caused by what he described as “a genuine administrative error”.
Barker has been cleared to return to professional cricket on 4 July, 12 months after he was told he had tested positive for the prohibited substance indapamide, which he had been prescribed to treat high blood pressure, and provisionally suspended. The length of his ban was decided last month and announced on Wednesday, one week short of 11 months after he took the out-of-competition test.
“Over the last nine months I have been part of a very tense, very gruelling process leading to the results of my hearing,” the 38-year-old said. “Having been forced to step away from my career and the sport I have loved since I was a young child due to a genuine administrative error has been mentally taxing and left me fearing for the loss of my career.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to playing the game that I love. My hope is for any young professionals to look at my case with a renewed sense of vigilance around medication and anti-doping procedures in professional sport.”
Indapamide is banned by Wada as a diuretic but used under prescription mainly to treat hypertension. In a statement Hampshire said the violation was caused by “an administrative error between medical professionals and Barker”, with the player prescribed the drug after his previous medication – which was not prohibited – failed to adequately resolve his issue.
Hampshire’s club doctor was aware of the prescription, and in his evidence Barker said neither his nor the club’s doctor raised concerns about him taking indapamide, but he admitted he did not personally check whether it was on Wada’s list of prohibited substances. The tribunal concluded that he “bore no significant fault or negligence” for failing the test, and reduced his suspension to 12 months from the minimum two years he would otherwise have faced.
“This is a regrettable incident, which is the result of a genuine mistake,” said Giles White, Hampshire’s director of cricket. “Keith is an exceptional professional and everyone at the club is focused on supporting him to return to first-team action from July. Keith’s performances over the last six years have made him a firm favourite with fans and we are grateful to members and supporters for their patience while this process has been ongoing.”
Barker, a former professional footballer for Blackburn Rovers, has taken 533 first-class wickets and scored six first-class centuries since he made his debut for Warwickshire in 2009. He moved to Hampshire at the end of the 2018 season.
