Chris Lynn's ban was over before anyone knew it had started

On July 18, Chris Lynn made 39 and 4 as Northamptonshire won the T20 Blast for the third time. He was also handed a cup for a standard anti-doping test.

The sample went to a lab in France. It came back positive for benzoylecgonine, the substance the body breaks cocaine down into.

Lynn was told on July 31 and provisionally suspended that day. He served a one-month ban, finished a treatment programme, and was cleared on August 30. The public heard about it on November 5, when England's Cricket Regulator published the case.

So the story isn't really the ban. It's that one of franchise cricket's best-known hitters spent a month suspended and almost nobody noticed.

Cocaine is on WADA's list, but only in competition, and it counts as a "substance of abuse". Under those rules, a player who shows the use was out of competition and had nothing to do with performance gets a short ban, not a career-ending one.

The Regulator accepted Lynn's account on both points. It first wanted three months. That came down to one month once Lynn confirmed he had finished a substance-of-abuse treatment programme, as the rules allow.

Lynn also faced two charges at first. One was dropped because the amount in his sample was below WADA's minimum level for that charge.

The timing still looks bad. He says he used cocaine on the night of July 15, the same evening he retired hurt from the quarter-final against Gloucestershire after a low full-toss from Duan Jansen hit his foot. Three days later he opened the batting on Finals Day.

Two dates don't sit easily together. Lynn left the Lanka Premier League with an "unspecified leg injury" on July 29. Two days later he was told about the positive test. The order of events may be a coincidence, but it was always going to raise questions once it came out.

The secrecy is built into the system. Provisional suspensions for substances of abuse often stay private until the case is closed. That protects players who go through treatment. It also means fans, franchises and rival teams can be the last to know.

No sanction was applied to Northamptonshire, and their Blast title stands. The test was of Lynn, not the team, and he scored 43 runs across the day.

Lynn is free to play. He has not signed for the coming BBL season, but Code Sports reported this week that he has agreed to join the Melbourne Renegades.

If that's true, the Renegades get a 36-year-old who hasn't played a professional game since July. He is also a two-time BBL Player of the Tournament who once hit 11 sixes in a 98 not out against Perth.

The rules say he has served his time, and they are right. A one-month ban plus treatment is the system working as designed: it deals with a health problem without ending a career. The real test for Lynn starts in December, when he has to show his batting still matters more than this headline.

Our verdict: no franchise should drop him over this, and nobody should pretend it didn't happen. Judge him on whether, at 36 and four months out of the game, he can still clear the rope.