ICC dismisses Chandimal's appeal

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - The International Cricket Council has dismissed Dinesh Chandimal’s appeal after the Sri Lanka captain was found guilty of changing the condition of the ball during the second day’s play in the second Test against the Windies in St Lucia. Accordingly, Dinesh Chandimal will miss the day/night Barbados Test against the West Indies. Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and manager Asanka Gurusinha were charged by the ICC for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game after their involvement in the Sri Lanka team's refusal to take to the field in St Lucia at the start of Saturday's play, which caused a two-hour delay in the start of play. Judicial Commissioner Michael Beloff will hold another hearing on July 10 to determine sanctions against the tro for this breach of conduct. Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan skipper Minister Arjuna Ranatunga expressed his views on the current state of Sri Lankan Cricket. He stated that the code of conduct was violated by the top level in the Cricket Board and during the former minister's time incompetent officers and persons involved with gambling, betting and newspaper came into the cricket board. The Sri Lankan team which has won ODI and T20 World Cups are not even placed among the top 5 teams in any format of world cricket. Sri Lanka once held the top spot in the world T20 rankings, today we are ranked 9^th. Surprisingly Afghanistan is one step ahead of us in the 8^th position.