Sri Lankan fast bowler Shehan Madushanka has been suspended from all forms of cricket with immediate effect for alleged possession of heroin. Sri Lanka Cricket made the announcement three days after he was arrested by the police and later put in remand custody.
The drugs had allegedly been found in a car Madushanka had been travelling in, on Saturday. Police said a little over two grams had been discovered. He was arrested northeast of the city of Negombo, by Pannala police, and produced in front of a magistrate the following day. He is currently in remand until he is due to make a High Court appearance.
According to an SLC statement on Tuesday, the decision to suspend will stand until the board conducts a full inquiry of the matter.
The 25-year-old Madushanka has played one ODI and two T20Is, all between January and February 2018. Despite taking a lower-order hat-trick against Bangladesh in his only ODI, he had not been in the frame for national selection over the last 18 months, partly because his first stint in the team had been cut short by an injury.
However, he has been active as a cricketer and was playing in Sri Lanka’s domestic competitions before the Covid-19 lockdown came into effect. Madushanka was not understood to be one of the wider national squad players expected to begin training in early June.
As a country, Sri Lanka takes a dim view of hard drugs, and if convicted, Madushanka can expect a hefty suspension from SLC as well. He is not understood to have had serious disciplinary scrapes before this incident, however. (ESPNCricinfo)
