Sri Lankan Skipper And Coaching Staff Victimized By ICC
Posted on July 19th, 2018

top spin By Suni

July 19th 2018

It has to be re-iterated questionably -Is the ICC overplaying their hand over the Dinesh Chandimal issue?

Along with  administrators Hathurusingha and Gurusinha,  he has been charged with a level 3 offence which the ICC and its cohorts have been notorious for doing quite regularly in recent times as they appear trigger happy and jumpy on related issues ever since Australia’s cricketers were found guilty of ball tampering.

Could they be looking for more apparently susceptible victims to justify their actions and could they have picked the wrong target this time ( just as they did in the case of Kusal Janith Perera which almost ruind his career) as they seem to have done here based on the presented evidence, the credibilities of the match referee Srinath of India with obvious conflicts of interests and inconsistencies  based on some of his past actions as well as those of the umpires involved whose decision making in certain recent matches could easily be deemed questionable?

It seems very easy for the ICC to lay down the law based on their perceptions albeit there being a darker and hidden side to some of their own policies and decision making apparatus which at the best of times appear dubious,biased , at times baseless and probably needs looking into and re-vamping towards posterity as there are many decent and credible followers who disagree with how the ICC executes some of its actions where players of smaller nations are often targetted for all the wrong reasons.

In the case of Australia, the guilty parties were caught red handed and admitted shamefacedly to their offences but in  Chandimal’s case he has remonstrated angrily and quite justifiably but there there could be no analogies drawn to the Australian case where the comparisons of sandpaper(Steve Smith, Warner and co.) deliberately used as opposed  to a toffee  wrapper found  on Chandimal one would presume innocently as well as harmlessly where the ICC appear to be making an issue out of. It truly seems a feeble excuse- one which the adjudicators were in all probabilities waiting for, to make a scapegoat of someone!!

Veritably,  the issues involving the Sri Lankans particularly Chandimal ( a player of integrity and unblemished character) which goes for the whole team and its adjudicators need to be quashed and an apology in order rather than implement a set of falsely purported offences which in all probabilities would never hold water in any legal perspective as there was simply no culpable offence on the part of Chandimal and  the Sri Lankans whatsoever beyond being a misguided conclusion which could eventually turn out to be a comedy of errors that may​ embarrass the ICC.

Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal, has appealed against the charges laid against him on grounds of ball-tampering after the match referee Javagal Srinath arrived at the conclusion having studied the video evidence from the third day’s action of the second Test against the Windies, the ICC confirmed.What Srinath was looking a seems to have had little or nothing to do with rationality based on conclusive evidence and the umpire involved Aleem Dar notorious for botched up decisions in the past too seems to have no tangible proof or evidence to go by.

Related exerpt from the News media

An interesting legal battle is now on the cards between the lawyers of Sri Lanka Cricket and International Cricket Council after the former has decided to contest the ICC sanctions. Following Srinath’s decision of handing the Sri Lankan skipper a one-match ban along with a fine of 100 per cent of his match fees, the ICC announced that CEO David Richardson had charged Chandimal, head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and team manager Asanka Gurusinha of a more serious Level 3 offence which relates to conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.

The Sri Lankans were charged for holding up play for two hours on the morning of day three after the umpires accused the Sri Lankan captain of ball tampering.

SLC officials were in discussion with the Sri Lankan side that is currently in Barbados and late Wednesday night made a decision to contest the charge. SLC sources had mentioned on Wednesday that the board will inform the decision to the ICC the following morning.

That means the ICC will have to appoint a Judicial Commissioner to hear the case and the trio of Chandimal, Hathurusingha and Gurusinha will not be suspended from the third and final day-night Test in Barbados.

A level three offence carries a penalty of a ban of two to four Test matches and if found guilty, the top brass of the Sri Lankan side will miss most part of the home series against South Africa next month.

Sri Lanka are believed to be contesting the charge on the grounds of inconsistency of application of the rule and not following proper procedure. The charge against Chandimal was laid on the morning of day three and Sri Lankan believe that he should have been charged on day two. However, officials have 18 hours to charge a player. But Sri Lankan argue that the umpires didn’t have any issues with the ball when they took it to their custody at stumps on day two.

Sri Lanka claim that they were informed about the charge ten minutes before play on day three although both teams had arrived at the venue more than two hours prior to the start of day’s play.

Match Referee Srinath also has been accused of inconsistency. The tourists claim that when they were reluctant to take the field, Srinath had assured there would be no imposition of the five penalty runs sanction or a change of change the ball. However, when they took the field, the umpires did completely the opposite holding up play again.

Sri Lanka are believed to have accused umpire Ian Gould of getting carried away after the ball tampering fiasco in South Africa early this year that saw three Australian players getting suspended for a very justifiable case of ball tampering done deliberately by their own admission.In the case of the Sri Lankans this is not the case although Chandimal has admitted to having a sweet in his mouth quite innocently although the judgement against him and his coach and Manager has been draconian and harsh.

So is this a hard line stance the ICC has reserved  for players whom they think fit to target for all the wrong reasons and with no justifiable cause in which case the ICC should re-think their strategies so as to avoid criticism from the cricketing world which believes in fair play and justice as this seems a clear cut case of unnecessary victimization.

2 Responses to “Sri Lankan Skipper And Coaching Staff Victimized By ICC”

  1. Randeniyage Says:

    Surely it is easy victimization !
    Unfortunately we don’t have a government. The old white man who investigated the incident was a bloody racists ! He thinks he is a king. On the other hand our coach and cricket manager behaved like kids. Tow appointed lawyers probably couldn’t speak English well.

  2. Sunil Mahattaya Says:

    ICC should stop irrational targetting of Sri Lanka’s cricketers remembering the irrepairable damage done to Kusal Perera and the horrendous wrongs inflicted on Muttiah Muralidaran based on speculation and the bias of errant umpires. Now they have picked on Chandimal, Hathurusinghe and Gurusinghe in a very petty perspective that sees no justification at all.There are others whose careers have been virtually wrecked by ICC decisions where there is enough evidence to suggest it should re-vamp its operation and get rid of all the deadbeats who bring it to disrepute and lay down some feasible rules and regulations which should incorporate errant umpires, match referees and adjudicators who truly tarnish the game rather than enhance it..

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