New Delhi: Former Sri Lanka cricketer Dulip Samaraweera has been handed another ban by Cricket Australia (CA) following allegations of misconduct towards a second player while coaching. He has already been suspended from any involvement in Australian cricket for 20 years after being found to have behaved inappropriately towards a female player and now has been accused of further misconduct.
The second matter concerns the time when he was working as a private coach while employed by Cricket Victoria. The 52-year-old has denied the claim but chose not to take part in the investigation and has been banned for 10 years for breaching the code of conduct of the sport. The ban will run concurrently with his initial 20-year suspension, which means he is still not able to return to any coaching role with Australia or any of its state or territory bodies until 2044 when he will turn 72.
According to an AAP report, none of the complainants has gone for pursuing criminal charges. Samaraweera played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka in the 1990s. He had been involved in the women’s program of Cricket Victoria for almost 16 years, also including his long stint as assistant coach at the WBBL’s Melbourne Stars, before resigning in May.
What did the Cricket Victoria chief say?
Samaraweera’s conduct was previously labelled as “utterly reprehensible” and “a betrayal of everything we stand for” by Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins after CA’s investigation results were out in September. “The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up. She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field,” Cummins had said after the initial charge.
“From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount. We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up,” he added.
Samaraweera, who was born in Colombo, opened batting for Sri Lanka in seven Tests between 1993 and 1995, before switching to coaching. He served as the Stars’ assistant coach from the inaugural WBBL season in 2015 and even served as the interim head coach of Victoria for the majority of last summer. He was due to take over the role full-time but resigned in May when Cricket Victoria’s conflict of interest policy barred him from hiring his brother Thilan to the coaching setup.
Samaraweera was appointed head coach of the Victoria state women’s team in May and was banned for 20 years by Cricket Australia for inappropriate behaviour towards a female player. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
