By Ian Omoro
Australian cricket has imposed a 10-year ban on Sri Lankan Test player Dulip Samaraweera for alleged inappropriate behaviour, which will run concurrently with his current 20-year ban. The 52-year-old, who played seven Tests and five ODIs in the 1990s, was named head coach of Victoria’s women’s team in May. However, his time was cut short due to allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female player.
Samaraweera was previously banned from all Australian cricket activities for 20 years when it was discovered that he had acted inappropriately towards a female player. Since then, he has been accused of further misconduct.
His tenure as a private coach while working for Cricket Victoria is the subject of the second issue. Despite denying the allegation, Samaraweera declined to take part in the inquiry and was given a ten-year ban for violating the sport’s code of conduct.
“Cricket Australia Conduct Commission has made a determination in relation to a further allegation of inappropriate behaviour against Dulip Samaraweera,” Cricket Australia Conduct Commission stated.
“Samaraweera denied the allegations but chose not to participate in the investigation and subsequent Conduct Commission hearing,” it added.
His initial 20-year suspension will be served concurrently with the ban, which means he won’t be permitted to resume coaching with Australia or a state or territory body until 2044, when he will be 72 years old. Before stepping down in May, the seven-time Test player had been a part of Cricket Victoria’s women’s program for nearly 16 years, including as a long-time assistant coach for the Melbourne Stars of the WBBL.
Nick Cummins, the chief executive of Cricket Victoria, had earlier called Samaraweera’s actions “a betrayal of everything we stand for” and “utterly reprehensible” following Cricket Australia’s September announcement of the results of its preliminary investigation.
“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 after the initial charge.
“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,” he added.
Samaraweera, who was born in Colombo, opened the batting in seven Tests for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1995 before moving on to coaching. He has been an assistant coach with the Stars since the inaugural WBBL season in 2015, and he also served as Victoria’s interim head coach for most of the summer. He was set to take up the post full-time but quit in May when Cricket Victoria’s conflict of interest clause stopped him from appointing his brother Thilan to the coaching staff.
