Former New Zealand quick Doug Bracewell has been handed a two-year suspension by the ECB’s Cricket Regulator after returning a positive cocaine test during a County Championship fixture in September 2025.
The sample was collected on September 25, 2025, during a Division One match between Essex and Somerset in Chelmsford. Analysis at a WADA-accredited laboratory in London confirmed the presence of cocaine and its metabolite, benzoylecgonine, substances prohibited in-competition under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.
Bracewell did not possess a Therapeutic Use Exemption for the substance. He later admitted to using cocaine across the evening of September 24, the day the match began, and into the early hours of September 25, acknowledging that this constituted an anti-doping rule violation.
The charge, brought under Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the ECB’s Anti-Doping Rules, covered both the presence and use of a prohibited substance.
The Cricket Regulator confirmed that the substance use was unrelated to sporting performance. As a result, a two-year suspension was imposed, consistent with provisions for substances of abuse. Bracewell accepted the sanction, bringing the proceedings to a close without a hearing.
The suspension is backdated to November 24, 2025, the date of his provisional suspension, and will run until November 23, 2027. All results recorded by the player between the date of the test and the start of the provisional suspension have been disqualified. No sanctions have been applied to Essex.
The quick, who played 69 international matches for New Zealand between 2011 and 2023, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December last year. However, the ban still applies: he is barred from participating in any cricket activity that falls under the jurisdiction of the ECB or any other body under the WADA.
As per WADA, athletes and other persons are prohibited from associating with individuals serving a period of ineligibility for anti-doping violations. This includes working with such individuals in roles such as coaching, training, medical support or representation, and extends to receiving advice, treatment or any form of professional assistance.
This marks Bracewell’s second doping-related sanction in recent years. In 2024, he received a one-month ban from New Zealand’s Sports Tribunal after testing positive for the same substance during the Super Smash.
Bracewell remains subject to testing during his period of ineligibility.
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