Warwickshire have terminated the contract of wicketkeeper Keith Piper with immediate effect after he failed a drugs test earlier this season.
The 35-year-old (pictured) tested positive for cannabis after the first Frizzell County Championship match of the season at Glamorgan and was banned from competitive cricket until September 30 this year.
Bears chief executive Dennis Amiss said: "In the light of Keith Piper's positive test for cannabis and the decision of the ECB disciplinary committee to ban him from professional cricket for four months until the end of September 2005 , Warwickshire County Cricket Club has terminated Keith's playing contract for 2005 with immediate effect."
Piper's position will be reviewed at the end of the season along with that of other players, and the club insist they are committed to helping him through a rehabilitation programme which will include a period of residential counselling.
The player, who claimed 540 first-class dismissals and travelled on two England A tours, also tested positive for cannabis in 1997 when he was banned for one match and fined #500.
"The focus now is on Keith's rehabilitation programme to which Keith and the county club are fully committed," Amiss said.
"In that we will be supported by the ECB and the Professional Cricketers' Association. We are aware of Keith's positive response to a difficult situation and we are confident that the rehabilitation will be successful."
Given his age however, Piper may have played his last game of professional cricket.
Warwickshire also sacked Graham Wagg in October after he failed a drugs test and was banned for 15 months after he used cocaine.
More on this story in Friday's Birmingham Post
