By Jermaine Craig and Xolisa Vapi
South African cricket has been hit by a new scandal after five members of the team touring the West Indies, as well as the team's physiotherapist, were caught smoking dagga.
Herschelle Gibbs, Andre Nel, Paul Adams, Roger Telemachus, Justin Kemp and physio Craig Smith were each fined R10 000 by an on-tour misconduct committee. According to United Cricket Board (UCB) president Percy Sonn, they were given a "moerse" (very serious) warning after they admitted smoking dagga on April 10 as part of the celebrations for winning the Test series after the fourth Test in Antigua.
UCB chief executive Gerald Majola, who is in the West Indies, has called for an urgent meeting with the team to discuss the matter. Majola said the men should have known they were ambassadors for their country and were in the public eye.
He said the country had "just come out of the Hansie saga and can't be hit by negative things like this, which hamper the image of the team and UCB, and it of course detracts from their very good performances".
He said he had met with team management and was due to meet the team on Friday night. He said the culprits could possibly face further action, because the matter would be referred to the UCB executive committee when it meets on Thursday.
He said the incident happened after a victory. The men were out celebrating and, "like normal human beings", were "trying new things".
A UCB statement said the accused had all admitted their guilt and that the misconduct committee (made up of team management and senior players) accepted that this was a one-off incident.
The accused had all expressed remorse, apologised and gave an assurance that it would not happen again.
"I was very disturbed when I received the report, particularly because one of our management staff was involved. But we have seen the sentence handed down by the misconduct committee and concur with it," Sonn said.
Questions have to be asked about why the incident, which occurred more than a month ago, has only now been made public, after the misconduct committee reported it only on Friday.
Sport and Recreation Minister Ngconde Balfour's spokesperson Graham Abrahams denied any knowledge of the incident until Friday.
Asked why the authorities had been informed at such a late stage, Abrahams said: "You have to refer that question to the cricket authorities."
The incident has again put the world sporting spotlight on the behaviour of the South African cricket team, just as the Cronje affair was beginning to slip from the public consciousness.
Gibbs, no stranger to controversy after his six-month international ban following the Cronje affair, is set to face further sanction when he returns home from the Caribbean.
The opening batsman still has a suspended sentence hanging over his head after he was found guilty of nightclubbing until the early hours of the morning on the eve of a one-day international against Australia on April 14 last year.
Gibbs was sentenced on May 12 last year to a fine of R15 000 and a three-international-match suspension, with R10 000 of the fine and the three-match ban suspended for one year on condition he not be found guilty of "unbecoming conduct" in that period.
UCB director of cricket operations Brian Basson said Gibbs would face the music on his return. "This amounts to a similar offence of which Gibbs has been found guilty within that period. The suspended part of that sentence must now come into effect and he will be fined the additional R10 000 and face the three-international-match ban."
Had the suspended sentence been effected immediately, Gibbs would have missed the fifth Test and the first two one-day internationals (he made 104 in the second one-dayer), but the sentence was handed down by a disciplinary committee convened by the UCB's general council, which would have to invoke it.
Ironically, all five players involved in the dagga incident could play in the sixth one-day international against the West Indies in Trinidad on Saturday.
Sharks rugby team doctor Craig Roberts explained that marijuana is not a stimulant, but rather suppresses the central nervous system.
"But it would really depend on how much the players had and the manner in which it was taken - whether they smoked it or ate it," he added. "What it does is stimulate some of the senses while inhibiting others."
Marijuana can stay in the system for up to six weeks, Roberts explained.
After the 1994/1995 New Zealand tour to South Africa, three young and upcoming New Zealand cricketers - Stephen Fleming, Matthew Hart and Dion Nash - were suspended for three games for celebrating with dope .
- In another incident from the West Indies tour, Daryll Cullinan and Telemachus were fined after they had an altercation during a tour match in Montego Bay. It is believed the two had an argument in the dressing room, which carried onto the field and led to Cullinan angrily storming off the field.
Telemachus was fined R1 000 for verbally abusing another player and another R1 000 because it was his second offence on the tour. He also apologised to Cullinan, who was fined R2 000 for leaving the field of play during a match without his captain's consent.