ICC suspends Sri Lankan bowling coach on corruption charges

London : The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Sri Lankan bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa for breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

He was charged by ICC with three counts of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code (for match-fixing).

ICC released a statement regarding the same mentioning the three counts of breach.

ICC has given Zoysa 14 days, starting from November 1, to respond to his charges.

Just days before the Lankans take the field against England in a Test series, Zoysa has been charged with articles which relate to match-fixing and encouraging players to influence results.

Zoysa was charged under Article 2.1.1, Article 2.1.4 and Article 2.4.4.

Article 2.1.1. states – being party to an effort to fix or contrive or to otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect of an International match.

Article 2.1.4 states – directly soliciting, inducing, enticing or encouraging a player to breach Code Article 2.1.1. while Article 2.4.4 states – failing to disclose to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in corrupt conduct under the Code.

ICC refrained from making any further comments at the charges.

The ICC is currently conducting a full-scale investigation into the alleged corrupt activities in Sri Lankan cricket. It recently charged World Cup-winning batting legend Sanath Jayasuriya with non-cooperation in the probe.

Former left-arm seamer Zoysa, who played 30 Tests and 95 ODIs for Sri Lanka, was appointed Sri Lanka’s bowling coach in September 2015.

Sri Lanka, which lost the rain-hit ODI series against England 1-3 and also the lone Twenty20, are scheduled to begin the three-Test series at Galle on November 6.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) earlier suspended Galle groundsman Tharanga Indika and professional cricketer Tharindu Mendis, who allegedly spoke about fixing the pitch to ensure a result in under four days in a sting operation by a TV channel.

SLC also suspended provincial coach Jeevantha Kulathunga in the same case.

The channel has, however, not shared the raw footage of its documentary with the ICC despite repeated requests.

In 2016, Galle curator Jayananda Warnaweera was suspended for failing to cooperate with the ICC’s anti-corruption probe. The 55-year-old Warnaweera played 10 Tests for Sri Lanka between 1986 and 1994.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)