Chamara Silva allowed to play domestic cricket following 2-year ban appeal

Sri Lankan cricketer Chamara Silva has been given temporary relief to take part in the domestic matches after appealing his two-year ban for misconduct, the country’s cricket board said on Sunday. SLC had earlier said that the domestic first-class match between Panadura Cricket Club and Kalutara  Physical Culture Club in January was not played in the right spirit.

The two respective captains- Chamara Silva and Manoj Deshapriya were banned for 2 years from all cricket-related activities while the other players and managers were banned for one year. Both the clubs were fined $3,300 each and the match was termed void.

“On the recommendation of the appeal’s committee… the accused players would be permitted to engage in domestic cricket activities pending the outcome of their appeal,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement Sunday. The news comes a week after the International Cricket Council (ICC) said it was conducting an anti-corruption probe in Sri Lanka.

Club react to the foul play

Earlier, Pandura Sports Club had said that they will appeal to the board to overturn the ban imposed by the SLC. “This club was established in 1922 and I can proudly say that we have no black marks whatsoever,” Nuwan Samaranayake, Secretary of the club, told journalists. “This is a conspiracy against us. The image of the club and that of our players has been tarnished. The players have not been given a fair hearing and we will make an appeal to SLC. If we don’t get a fair hearing, we have left with no alternative but to take legal action,” he added.

“If there was any foul play, the Match Referee should have stated so in his report at the end of play. He didn’t do that. Then later, the Match Referee filed another report. So there are two reports by the Match Referee,” Jayantha Silva, President of the club, said.