The Three Musketeers concede with appeals
Danushka Gunathilaka
Banned cricketers Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella have appealed to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the Sports Ministry to reconsider their suspensions and fines.
The cricketers admitted to breaching the bio-secure bubble during the recent England tour and were banned for six months from domestic cricket, one year from international cricket and imposed fines of Rs 10mn each. They were also given two-year additional sentences suspended for one year.
The bans were not as tough as action recommended by the disciplinary committee, which felt their behaviour had brought disrepute to the sport and country. They proposed a two-year ban from international cricket, one-year from domestic cricket and a further fine of US$ 25,000.
However, all three now want their bans relaxed in order to resume their domestic cricket careers as soon as possible. Accordingly, Mendis and Gunathilaka have lodged their appeals on August 9 while Dickwella has made his three days later, on August 12.
Now that they have already forfeited a number of matches and will also miss the T20 World Cup, they feel they have paid a price worthy of their misdemeanor. The Sports Ministry and Sri Lanka Cricket have acknowledged their appeals but no date is fixed for the hearing.
The selectors had just appointed Mendis as vice captain of the national side, giving him more responsibility, and Dickwella, having captained his school and national Under-19 side, is a captain-in-waiting.
Kusal Mendis
Gunathilaka has been impressive with the bat in limited-over cricket but his off-field behaviour has been controversial. He has had two other inquiries. In 2018, he was given a six-match suspension for breaching team curfew and, as recently as April this year, he was directed to attend an year of counseling after an inquiry over an alleged brawl at a hotel in Matara, a coastal city in the southern part of Sri Lanka. Only a year ago, Mendis was involved in a hit-and-run which killed a 64-year-old cyclist. The SLC did not bat an eyelid on that.
Meanwhile, their agents scoffed at rumours that the trio were planning to migrate to the United States to play cricket.
“He (Dickwella) regrets what he did,” said his agent Amila Kalugalage.
Niroshan Dickwella
“However, he is very much committed to represent Sri Lanka and wants to make a strong comeback to the side, which is why he has made an appeal. There’s no truth in migrating to USA to play cricket.”
Kalugalage admitted that the US Embassy in Colombo made inquiries with regard to Dickwella’s existing visa which he obtained to travel to the West Indies early this year. SLC sources confirmed that the Embassy had asked about the visas of all three players.
Asanka Wijewardena, who manages both Mendis and Gunathilaka, said that his clients also have no plans to leave the country.
“They want to play cricket for Sri Lanka,” he said.
“We want the ban reduced so that they could start playing at least domestic cricket. They have already paid a heavy price for their actions and, given their potential, we want the appeals to be considered favourably.”