Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella have all been suspended from international cricket for a year for breaking Sri Lanka’s bio-bubble on a night out in Durham last month. In addition, they will be in probation for two further years, during which another year’s suspension will hang over their heads. The suspensions are shorter than those recommended by the independent panel that had been commissioned to inquire into the the incident. That committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Nimal Dissanayaka, had recommended two-year suspensions for Gunathilaka and Mendis, who were deemed to have priors, and an 18-month suspension for Dickwella. Gunathilaka was one of Sri Lanka’s white-ball openers, while Kusal Mendis was finding his way back into the national teams following a patch of lean form.

Source: The Nation July 30, 2021 15:56 UTC