COLOMBO – The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to suspend national player Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of cricket with immediate effect and will not consider him for any selections.
It comes after Gunathilaka was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a woman in Australia during the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The arrest charges came hours after Sri Lanka lost a T20 World Cup match against England.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka Cricket will take the necessary steps to promptly carry out an inquiry into the alleged offense, and, upon conclusion of the aforementioned court case in Australia, steps will be taken to penalize the said player if found guilty.
An official statement further added that Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to emphasize that it adopts a “zero tolerance” policy for any such conduct by a player and will provide all the required support to the Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident.
According to New South Wales Police, the Sri Lankan cricketer has been charged with four counts of “sexual intercourse without consent” against a 29-year-old woman in the city whom he met online.
The sexual assault was reported at a property in Rose Bay earlier in the week. Gunathilaka has been refused bail and is scheduled to appear in a Sydney court.
For those unversed, Gunathilaka was earlier ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Gunathilaka played against Namibia in the first-round match of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Due to a hamstring injury, Gunathilaka withdrew in the preliminary round but he stayed in Australia with the team.
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