The International Cricket Council on Thursday praised the Pakistan Cricket Board for their handing of the doping trial involving fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar [Images] and Mohammad Asif [Images].

A PCB drugs tribunal banned Akhtar for two years and Asif for one on Wednesday after finding them guilty of doping offences.

"It is a tragedy that the careers of two cricketers have been tarnished in this way but, at the same time, the judgement emphasises that cricket has a zero tolerance of drug use," ICC [Images] president Percy Sonn said in a statement.

"I have read the judgement handed down by the PCB Anti-Doping Commission and feel I must commend the group for its work."

Akhtar and Asif had been called back from the Champions Trophy in India after the board got the results of out-of-competition tests carried out in Pakistan before the tournament.

Sonn said that from an ICC perspective, the judgement was very satisfactory and that it made constant reference to guidelines laid down in the PCB's anti-doping code.

"That is the idea behind the ICC's drug-testing regime at all our events since 2002 and our adoption of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code in July of this year, and that idea of zero tolerance has to be the major message from this whole affair," he added.

Sonn also urged other ICC members without their own testing regimes to adopt such a process so cricket would be able to show its commitment to becoming a drug-free sport.