*DUBAI – Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been suspended from hisside’s third and final Test against the West Indies after he was foundguilty of changing the condition of the ball during the second day’s playof the second Test, which concluded at Gros Islet on Monday.*
During a hearing held at the end of the St Lucia Test, in which videoevidence was used in the presence of the Sri Lanka team management as wellas the match officials, Chandimal admitted putting something in his mouthbut wasn’t able to recall what it was.
Javagal Srinath of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, onTuesday, after utilising the time available to him under the code to makehis decision, handed Chandimal the maximum punishment available under thecode, i.e. two suspension points and a fine of 100 per cent of his matchfee.
As two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or twoT20Is, whatever comes first for the player, Chandimal will now miss theday/night Barbados Test, starting from Saturday, 23 June. Furthermore, andbecause two suspension points correspond to four demerit points, these havebeen added to Chandimal’s disciplinary record.
Commenting on his decision, Srinath said: “After reviewing the footage ofthe incident, it is clear that Dinesh applied an artificial substance tothe ball, namely saliva containing the residue of something he had in hismouth, an action which is prohibited under the ICC Code of Conduct.
“The footage shows that upon receiving the ball, Dinesh took something fromhis pocket and put it into his mouth. After sucking or chewing whatever heput in his mouth for a few seconds, Dinesh then proceeded to spit on hisfinger and polish the ball with his saliva which would have contained theresidue of the artificial substance that he had in his mouth, on twoseparate occasions.”
“During the hearing, Dinesh admitted to putting something in his mouth butcouldn’t remember what it was, which I found unconvincing as a defence andthe fact remains it was an artificial substance.
“In the pre-series briefing held on the back of the ICC Cricket Committeerecommendations, both the sides were explicitly told that the matchofficials would be extra vigilant towards all aspects of fair play,including changing the condition of the ball and as such it isdisappointing that this has happened.”
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson backed the Playing Control Team, whenhe said: “The ICC fully supports the match officials in their decision andwill continue to do so in any other such instances.
“The strong message from last month’s ICC Cricket Committee was that thereneeds to be stiffer sanctions for offences such as changing the conditionof the ball and, as such, we will be recommending to the ICC Board at nextmonth’s annual conference in Dublin to upgrade this to a Level Threeoffence.”
On Sunday, Chandimal had pleaded not guilty after on-field umpires AleemDar and Ian Gould, and third umpire Richard Kettleborough, all from theEmirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, had charged him for changing thecondition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3 of the ICC Standard TestMatch, ODI and T20I Playing Conditions after play on Saturday.
The umpires had laid the charge after television footage from the finalsession’s play on Friday, which had been made available before the start ofplay on Saturday, appeared to show the Sri Lanka captain taking somethingout from his left pocket and putting it in his mouth, before applying theresidue of the artificial substance to the ball which they viewed as anattempt to change its condition.