Sri Lanka Cricket to stamp out ‘Bad Company’ among players | Sunday Observer

Sri Lanka Cricket to stamp out ‘Bad Company’ among players

12 July, 2020

Sri Lanka Cricket is in the process of introducing a tougher code of conduct for players which until now did not cover their off-field behaviour after another high speed car crash and the death of a 64 year old man brought into question indiscipline among cricketers to whom life on the fast lane has put them on par with notoriety.

The latest case involving batsman Kusal Mendis has turned him from a soft spoken lad to a villain on the highway as Social media was awash with criticism over his conduct amid allegations that he got away in a police cover-up.

Mendis’ employer Sri Lanka Cricket has now realized it can no longer tolerate any more of the rot after his luxury SUV was captured on camera moving on the wrong side of the road and smashing into the victim on a push cycle as he returned home in the early morning hours apparently after a late night outing.

“We have initiated a disciplinary inquiry against him (Mendis) and this is not the kind of behaviour we want from our contracted players who are ambassadors for the country.

This is very bad and irresponsible conduct,” said Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Mohan de Silva.

Last year Test team captain Dimuth Karunaratne, another player of humble beginnings, drove his car into an auto rickshaw injuring its driver and was charged with drink-driving.

In the previous year 2018 Sri Lanka Cricket also suffered the ignominy of witnessing another of its contracted players, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, questioned by police after a Norwegian woman alleged he was present when she was raped at a hotel in Colombo.

He was banned for six ODIs and was never the player he was supposed to be after the incident.

Sri Lanka Cricket was never able to fully check the conduct of cricketers off the field as several of them stepped out of line with one of them being fast bowler Lasith Malinga who blatantly abused the Sinhala media and escaped sanction.

“The time has come for us to look at introducing stringent measures to check off-field irresponsible behaviour and that will be part of their Contracts,” said De Silva.

Two other cricketers, Kaushal Lokuarachchi in 2003 and Jehan Mubarak in 2012 caused the deaths of a motorcyclist and a bystander at a bus halt while in April this year budding fast bowler Shehan Madushanka was booked by police for being in possession of heroin to add to a growing list.

A senior player who did not want to be named told the Sunday Observer that Mendis had become a victim of “odd characters and bad company”.

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