Hampshire veteran handed year-long ban after doping violation blamed on ‘admin error'

Telegraph

16-04-2025

Hampshire veteran Keith Barker has been banned for 12 months after 'a genuine administrative error' led him to take a banned substance to treat his high blood pressure.
In May last year, Barker tested positive for indapamide, a substance on Wada's prohibited list as a 'diuretic and masking agent'.
As a result, he was provisionally suspended pending a Cricket Regulator investigation. At a hearing in March, he accepted a violation of two England and Wales Cricket Board anti-doping rules and was banned by the National Anti-Doping Panel for 12 months. Nine of these have already been served, so he is free to return to cricket on July 4.
The panel accepted that Barker had not breached anti-doping rules intentionally. Hampshire's director of cricket, Giles White, described the incident as 'regrettable' and 'the result of a genuine mistake'.
In the course of his case, Barker explained that he had been prescribed the drug by his personal doctor to treat hypertension (also known as high blood pressure), adding that Hampshire's doctor, Mark Wotherspoon – who previously worked with the England men's team – was aware of the prescription.
The full judgment in the case said that Barker 'relied upon the advice and assurance of his doctors when using indapamide and was not informed, despite checking with them, that it was a prohibited substance. He failed to undertake further checks of his own volition.'
In a statement released by Hampshire, Barker said: 'Over the last nine months I have been part of a very tense, gruelling process leading to the results of my hearing. 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 that is very dear to me.
'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.'
Barker, 38, has taken more than 500 wickets in 167 first-class matches, and was a key member of Warwickshire's County Championship-winning team of 2012.
Another member of that side, Chris Wright, 39, who is now with Leicestershire, completed a nine-month suspension last year after testing positive for a trace amount of banned substance ostarine.