Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta banned for recreational drug use: Reports

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has reportedly handed four-month bans to cricketers Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta for recreational drug use. The duo had tested positive for a banned recreational drug during a dope test in December last year.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Madhevere and Mavuta were handed their punishment on Thursday, January 25, after admitting to drug use during a disciplinary hearing a few days ago.

The report added that the two Zimbabwe cricketers will also be fined 50% of their salaries for three months effective from January 2024.

"ZC has a zero tolerance towards drugs and drug taking and, in imposing the sanctions, the Disciplinary Committee considered that drug taking was a serious offence and that the breach by the two players had brought the organisation and the game of cricket into disrepute,” the website quoted ZC’s official release as saying.

"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,” the official statement added.

Apart from Madhevere and Mavuta, another Zimbabwean cricketer, Kevin Kasuza, is also said to have been banned from all cricketing activities pending a hearing.

It has been reported that he too failed a dope test. A disciplinary hearing will soon take place about the matter.

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About Wesley Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta

Only 23, Madhevere has played two Tests, 36 ODIs and 60 T20Is for Zimbabwe. While he is yet to get off the mark in Test matches, the right-handed batter has scored 705 runs in ODIs, with the aid of five half-centuries, which includes a best of 72.

In T20Is, Madhevere has 1,047 runs to his name at an average of 20.94 and a strike rate of 118.97, with seven half-centuries and a best of 73*. With his off-spin, the cricketer has picked up 13 wickets each in both ODIs and T20Is.

Speaking of Mavuta, he has played four Tests, 12 ODIs and 10 T20Is for Zimbabwe. The 26-year-old leg-spinner has 26 scalps in international cricket and one half-century, which came in a Test against West Indies in Bulawayo in February 2023.