Zimbabwe's Wesley Madhevere, Brandon Mavuta banned for violating anti-doping rules

A month after 2 Zimbabwe all-rounders Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta tested positive for consuming a banned substance during an in-house anti-doping test, have been handed a 4-month ban each from all cricketing activities in the country and world by the Zimbabwe cricket board.

The latest development was confirmed by the country’s apex cricketing board on Thursday afternoon and have also decided to cut 50% of their match fees which will be applied from this month onwards. That might mean that both Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta will get half of their salaries until March or April.

The latest setback comes one month after the cricket board had provisionally suspended the duo of all-rounders after an out-of-competition drug test was scheduled by the board. The ZCB had released in a statement that “Both tested positive for a banned recreational drug in an out-of-competition case recorded during a recent in-house doping test.”

Other than these 2, batter Kevin Kasuza who made his last appearance for the national team way back in 2021, has also been banned by the cricket board after he too tested positive for a banned substance. This issue is becoming very prevalent, especially within the domestic cricketing circuit.

With another World Cup (T20) in the USA and West Indies coming up in less than 5 months time, it will be interesting to see impct of the following development on the team. They do have a promising player in the form of Sikander Raza but his contribution alone will not make any difference.

Zimbabwe’s most recent memorable win in an ICC event had come during the last ICC T20 World Cup edition in Australia where they defeated Pakistan in a closely fought match by just 1 run but those types of wins occur very rarely, at least in major events.

Zimbabwe Cricket Board States Madhevere And Mavuta Undergoing Rehabilitation

After handing out 4-month bans on Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta, the Zimbabwe cricket board has also ensured that they will give the 2 players another chance to prove themselves after they expressed major grief about the instance.

Both the players apparently told the ZCB that they regret having consumed the banned substance and the investigation committee has given them the green signal to try and stage a comeback in the country’s high-performance center where they have already started the rehabilitation process under supervision.

“In taking the decision, the Committee also considered some mitigating factors, with both players showing remorse and having already started working on withdrawing from the habit and getting their systems clean,” a Zimbabwe cricket board official said. 

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean team has completed their recent tour of Sri Lanka where they played a 3-match ODI and T20I series. They were blanked 2-0 in the ODI series and also lost the T20I series. Their next assignment is against England in a one-off Test match from May 28.