Sri Lanka have suspended batter Danushka Gunathilaka indefinitely after he was refused bail in a Sydney court after being charged over an alleged sexual assault.
Gunathilaka has been charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent while at the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The 31-year-old was taken into custody following his country's final World Cup game against England.
Gunathilaka was denied bail initially on Sunday, and was refused again on Monday in court.
A statement from Sri Lanka Cricket's governing board read: "The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket decided to suspend national player Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.
"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.
"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."
Gunathilaka was ruled out of the T20 World Cup through injury last month after facing Namibia and had remained in camp with the rest of the squad.
He only returned to the Sri Lanka team after a year-long ban for breaking bio-secure bubble conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted prematurely in January.
Gunathilaka was a member of the squad that won the Asia Cup in September, and had been expected to feature regularly across the T20 World Cup until his injury.
Global Super League announces schedule change ahead of 2024 Tournament
The ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) has announced a schedule adjustment ahead of its inaugural tournament, which is set to take place at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. The final will now be held on Friday, 6 December 2024, while the match between Hampshire Hawks and Victoria has been rescheduled to 10:00 AM on Thursday, 5 December 2024.
The tournament, featuring five teams—Guyana Amazon Warriors, Hampshire Hawks, Lahore Qalandars, Rangpur Riders, and Victoria—kicks off on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.
Sir Clive Lloyd, Chairman of the GSL, explained that the schedule changes were made in consultation with Cricket West Indies to avoid potential clashes with preparations for the West Indies' ODI series against Bangladesh.
“While the squads for the West Indies ODI series against Bangladesh have not yet been announced, we wanted to ensure that there was no chance of a clash between the conclusion of the GSL and the preparations for that series,” Lloyd said. “This decision has been made after discussions with Cricket West Indies to ensure the integrity of both the West Indies vs Bangladesh series and the GSL.”
Ticket holders for the affected matches can still use their existing tickets for entry. Those unable to attend the rescheduled games will be eligible for a full refund.
Revised Schedule for the 2024 Global Super League
26 November, 7:00 PM: Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Lahore Qalandars
27 November, 7:00 PM: Hampshire Hawks vs Rangpur Riders
29 November, 7:00 PM: Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Victoria
30 November, 10:00 AM: Hampshire Hawks vs Lahore Qalandars
1 December, 10:00 AM: Rangpur Riders vs Victoria
1 December, 7:00 PM: Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Hampshire Hawks
3 December, 7:00 PM: Victoria vs Lahore Qalandars
4 December, 7:00 PM: Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Rangpur Riders
5 December, 10:00 AM: Hampshire Hawks vs Victoria
5 December, 7:00 PM: Lahore Qalandars vs Rangpur Riders
6 December, 7:00 PM: Final – First Place vs Second Place
Sri Lanka wrap up series win as rain washes out third ODI
Sri Lanka wrapped up a 2-0 series win over New Zealand after the third ODI was rained off in Pallekele.
Will Young (56 not out) and Henry Nicholls (46 not out) had the Black Caps trundling along nicely at 112-1 after 21 overs on Tuesday, with Tim Robinson having been dismissed for nine by Mohamed Shiraz (1-23).
But the rain closed in at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and did not let up.
Eventually, the umpires had to call off play completely, denying New Zealand the chance to restore some pride after their opening two defeats.
Data Debrief: Rain sees the good run roll on
Sri Lanka have lost only one of their last nine ODIs (W6 T1) – an eight-wicket loss against West Indies (26 October 2024).
New Zealand's Young at least was able to celebrate a ninth ODI half-century, while Nicholls fell just short of a 17th 50 in the format.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
