Club cricketer Chris Ware has been banned for two years by the Sports Tribunal after being caught buying the prohibited substance clenbuterol from an online steroid supplier.

Ware was identified following a Medsafe and Drugfree Sport New Zealand investigation into an online steroid operation.

Clenbuterol NZ website operator Josh Townshend was earlier this year jailed for two years for advertising, possessing and supplying prescription medicines.

Ware's case is the fourth heard as result by the Sports Tribunal, with many more expected after about 100 athletes were identified as having "interacted" with the website.

Ware was not a professional cricketer, playing club cricket for Carisbrook Dunedin Cricket Club and Union Cricket Club in Oamaru.

Since late 2015 he has played club cricket for Astley and Tyldesley Cricket Club in England.

Ware said he thought he was buying a weight-loss product after recurring injuries meant he gained weight when unable to play cricket or attend the gym.

He has never played first-class cricket, been part of a high-performance or drug education programme, or been drug tested for sport.

Ware said he had not sought to cheat or enhance his sport performance, and had never intentionally or otherwise taken a prohibited substance.

The Sports Tribunal accepted his violation was not intentional, based on his evidence, reasons for wanting to purchase clenbuterol, and his lack of knowledge about the substance.

His two-year period of suspension has been backdated to January 1, 2017.

The Sports Tribunal has urged clubs and national sports organisations to initiate, with Drugfree Sport, a greater degree of drug education at all levels of competitive sport.

It said amateur or club athletes didn't receive the same level of education regarding the anti-doping drug regime as elite professionals do.

Consequently, it was easier to establish amateur athletes didn't intend to break anti-doping rules and therefore they could be treated more favourably than professional athletes.

- NZ Newswire