Danushka Gunathilaka denied bail by Sydney court in sexual assault case, SLC suspends him

Sydney, Nov 7: A local Sydney court on Monday (November 7) denied bail to Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka who was arrested on charges of sexual assault on a woman during the T20 World Cup.

The Sri Lankan cricketer - who was arrested in the wee hours of Sunday (November 6) by Sydney police - attended the hearing via a video link in Downing Centre Local Court from Surry Hills cells.

The 31-year-old Gunathilaka was arrested following an investigation into an alleged sexual assault of a woman on November 2. According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald, Gunathilaka was handcuffed and wearing a grey T-shirt, blue jeans and thongs during his virtual attendance at the hearing.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the Sri Lanka cricketer was about to fly out of the country when police swooped in and charged him. NSW Police arrested him and pulled him off the team's bus in the driveway of a Sydney hotel at 1 am (local time) on Sunday.

His lawyer Ananda Amaranath made a bail application during the "closed court" hearing and magistrate Robert Williams refused bail, the report said.

"Certainly, we are considering an application to the Supreme Court and that will be done as soon as possible," Amaranth was quoted as saying in the report. "He'll be disappointed, clearly."

The Sri Lankan team had left Australia without Gunathilaka after being eliminated from the T20 World Cup on Saturday. Amaranath said he understood "some team officials remained in the country". He also said Gunathilaka has no family in Australia.

The left-handed batter played against Namibia in the first-round match of the ongoing showpiece and was out for a duck. Later, he was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury even as the team qualified for the Super 12 stage. The Lankan team finished fourth in Group 1.

According to local media reports, Gunathilaka and the woman were in touch for a number of days after connecting via an online dating app. The arrest was made from a Sydney hotel just a few hours before the Sri Lankan team left Australia. The Sri Lankan government has asked Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to conduct an immediate investigation.

The SLC, meanwhile, has suspended the cricketer from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.

"Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suspends Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. Gunathilaka was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a woman in Australia," the board said in a statement on Monday.

"Furthermore, Sri Lanka Cricket will take the necessary steps to promptly carry out an inquiry into the alleged offence, and, upon conclusion of the aforementioned court case in Australia, steps will be taken to penalize the said player if found guilty.

"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to emphasise that it adopts a "zero tolerance" policy for any such conduct by a player and will provide all the required support to the Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident," it added.

Gunathilaka is no stranger to controversies. In 2021, he was suspended by SLC for one year after he breached the team's bio-secure bubble on the tour of England along with teammates Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella.

The Board had also handed him a six-month ban in 2018 after he had broken the team curfew. In the same year, Gunathilaka was also suspended after his unnamed friend was accused of raping a Norwegian woman.

In 2017, the board suspended him for six limited-overs games after it found out about Gunathilaka missing training sessions and turning up for a game without his cricket gear. He has represented Sri Lanka in eight Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20 Internationals.

(With PTI inputs)