Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif fail drugs tests

Off their mash on ecstacy pipes. That's the verdict. All whacked-up on goofballs.

There's nothing too specific being said at present. Both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have failed dope tests and are being sent home to Pakistan. It seems likely that if drugs were being used, it was to aid recovery from injury. The tests were carried out in September when both Shoaib and Asif were just returning to action.

Cricinfo have referred to comments made by former senior PCB medical staff which alluded to steroid use as part of Shoaib's recovery.

Some form of the full story will appear over the next few days. Currently the samples are being re-tested.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif are banned

Tell you what: This is a real kick in the teeth for cricket fans. We're the ones getting a raw deal out of this.

Shoaib Akhtar has been banned for two years and that could be pretty much it for him. Never say never with Pakistani cricket, but he's getting on a bit. He's 31. Mohammad Asif has been banned for a year. They seem to be citing his naivity as a reason for the shorter ban.

We're not blaming the Pakistani Cricket Board for this. The players were guilty. The PCB had no choice. We're blaming Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif and those around them for depriving cricket of two of its finest bowlers.

Fast bowling's been going through something of a lean period over the last few years and Pakistan seemed to be one nation who were likely to redress the balance. Shoaib Akhtar had been showing much greater consistency and - ironically - greater maturity to boot. Mohammad Asif has been one of the bowling finds of recent times. In a world of ageing stars, he was a younger bowler who looked the part.

The stupid thing is that cricket's not a game that can get massively affected by doping, so it was clearly avoidable. We're livid.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have their bans overturned

Now this is a bit ridiculous. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have had their bans overturned. It's seemingly on the grounds that nobody told them not to take various supplements that turned out to be illegal. Never mind ignorance being no defence in the eyes of the law - that's all their defence was.

We've sympathy with Mohammad Asif who had apparently never been given any sort of guidance as to what substances were legal and illegal (although surely any professional sportsman must treat many products with suspicion). Shoaib Akhtar, however, seems pretty clued-up. We'd be surprised if he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing.

Have you seen how burly Shoaib Akhtar is these days? He used to be really slight and wiry.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to miss World Cup

Strangely, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif don't seem to be recovering from injury as speedily as they have in the past. That's the reason why they won't be appearing in the World Cup.

Just to clarify, it's not the drugs thing, it's the injury thing. Nandrolone's ability to aid a player's recovery is not a factor here, because of course Shoaib and Asif weren't found guilty of taking said substance. No wait, they were, but they were let off because they said that they thought it was a kind of boiled sweet.

Both players have opted not to submit drug tests like their team mates, presumably on the grounds that they knew they wouldn't be fit in time for the World Cup.

Either way, they're not banned, they're injured. The beneficiaries will be Mohammad Sami and Yasir Arafat, who confusingly turns out for Scotland half the time.