Former Sri Lanka Test player Dulip Samaraweera has been banned from working in Australian cricket for 20 years after he was found to have engaged in inappropriate behaviour towards a female player.
Samaraweera had held various roles within Cricket Victoria’s women’s program for almost 16 years, including as an assistant coach at the WBBL’s Melbourne Stars, earlier this year.
AAP understands Cricket Victoria received a complaint from the player, which was then referred to Cricket Australia’s code of conduct commission.
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Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins labelled Samaraweera’s conduct “utterly reprehensible” and “a betrayal of everything we stand for” after CA released the findings of its investigation on Thursday afternoon.
The seven-time Test player was found to have committed a “serious breach” of clause 2.23 of the code of conduct, which concerns conduct “contrary to the spirit of cricket, is unbecoming of a representative or official, is or could be harmful to the interests of cricket, or does or could bring the game of cricket into disrepute”.
As part of his ban, Samaraweera is unable to hold any position within Cricket Australia or governing bodies of the game at State or Territory level for two decades, by which time he will be 72.
“The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up. She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field,” Cummins said.
“From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount.
“We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up.”
The Australian Cricketers’ Association supported CA’s verdict.
“These are extremely serious findings that may shock and upset many in the cricket community,” said chief executive Todd Greenberg.
“The safety and wellbeing of our members remains paramount. The leaders in Australian Cricket now need to ensure that every possible measure is taken to ensure things like this never happen again. We have raised this imperative with Cricket Australia.”
