Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been refused bail after being accused of sexually assaulting a Sydney woman, with police storming his NSW hotel room in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The left-handed batsman was charged with four counts of sexual assault without consent, prompting the Sri Lanka Cricket executive committee to release a statement suspending Gunathilaka from "all forms of cricket with immediate effect".
The report also outlined their hunger to search for the truth in finding out the actions carried out by the 31-year-old that led to him being handcuffed and in custody overnight at Surry Hills Police Station.
"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 penalise the said player if found guilty," the committee said in a statement.
"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."
His defence lawyer Ananda Amaranath fronted the media outside court minutes after hearing her client's interest in appealing the decision to the Supreme Court was denied, suggesting it was "disappointing" to hear when questioned.
"He has the full support of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner and the Sri Lankan Cricket Board. So he is okay," Amaranath said.
The news comes after the Lions bowed out of the tournament losing to England on Saturday night and in turn ending Australia's T20 World Cup campaign in the process with net run rate costing the hosts.
A hamstring injury ruled Gunathilaka out of the tournament, unsighted after appearing in the first of the group stage qualifiers for his country, when Namibia won handsomely to open their account.
