Warne may go for part-appeal

To appeal or not to appeal?

Shane Warne is in a dilemma. While many say reconsidering the case may lead to a two-year ban and he doesn't want to go through more heartache, others feel he does want to appeal against a total one-year ban.

"The leg-spinner can appeal against a particular part of the Australian Cricket Board's anti-doping committee findings, but the National Disputes Centre still has the option of reviewing the entire case and altering the verdict," the Sydney Morning Herald said quoting legal sources.

"That is the risk he takes, even with a part-appeal. He is upset about the severity of the ban and the fact it encompasses all ACB-affiliated cricket, and he is hoping to get the ban for non-international matches overturned," they said.

Warne, who was banned from playing the game on Saturday, has seven days - until February 28 - to appeal against the decision of the ACB's anti-doping committee.

Meanwhile, Australian Cricketers Association chief executive Tim May suggested that the current anti-doping policies be "watered down".

"The drug codes must be properly addressed to make sure that people who are not drug cheats are not penalised as drug cheats," May told a newspaper.

May would like a policy that would clearly distinguish between athletes found guilty of deliberately taking banned substances to enhance their performance and those guilty of inadvertent breaches.

"We cannot accept a situation whereby the reputations and livelihoods of those innocent of a performance-enhancing or masking charge are sacrificed in the interest of maintaining the fight against drugs in sport," he said.

The Sydney Morning Herald also came out with a back page piece splashing four different snaps of Warne sporting different hairdos.

"Following his headline-making revelations about a desperate attempt to look good on camera leading to his taking a diuretic, we've sifted through our Shane Warne photo album only to discover the bowler shares not only his mother Brigitte's medication but her penchant for ever changing hairdos".

There is a 1998 shot with ‘cropped, bleached hair, tamed somewhat to sit lightly on his head; then the 'Don King-inspired look of May 1999, when a windswept Warne prepared to bowl during a World Cup match against Pakistan in Leeds; Later that year, 'Shane was re-living his school days. All cowlick and side part at his portrait session for the Australian Cricket Board in August; and the latest 'spiky and no doubt sticky' hair style.