Surrey’s Laurie Evans ‘shocked’ after testing positive for banned substance

Surrey’s Laurie Evans has revealed he tested positive for a banned substance this summer, but insists he has no idea what caused the result.

T20 specialist Evans, who did not feature in the Brown Caps’ LV= Insurance County Championship winning side, made the announcement via a statement carried by the Professional Cricketers’ Association.

The 35-year-old wrote: “I was shocked to be told that an anti-doping sample I provided in August 2022 tested positive for trace amounts of a banned substance.

“I believe passionately in clean sport and I have never taken any banned substances. I do not know what caused the positive test, but my team and I are investigating how this could have happened and I am doing everything possible to find out.

“Due to the confidentiality of the process, I cannot say any more at this stage, but I would like to thank my family for supporting me at this very distressing time.”

Evans, who also represents Manchester Originals in The Hundred, has never played for England but has been on the fringes of selection in the past and featured in a 55-man training squad convened in 2021 during Covid regulations.

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s anti-doping code suggests a relatively hard line on positive tests, noting in section 2.1 that “it is each cricketer’s personal duty to ensure that no prohibited substance enters his/her body. A cricketer is responsible for any prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers found to be present in his/her sample”.

A further explanatory note in the code adds: “For the avoidance of doubt…lack of intent, fault, negligence or knowledge shall not be a defence”. The highest penalty for a doping violation, should the case be proven and no mitigation successfully argued, is a two-year ban.