Former New Zealand cricketer banned for two years after using cocaine during match

The former New Zealand bowler Doug Bracewell has been handed a two-year suspension from cricket after testing positive for cocaine after the first day’s play of Essex’s final County Championship game last season.Bracewell, who played 28 Tests between 2011 and 2023, returned an “Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the presence of cocaine and its metabolite, benzoylecgonine”, according to a statement from England’s Cricket Regulator, on an in-competition sample collected on September 25, 2025 – the second day of the match against Somerset at Chelmsford.Advertisement