Sri Lanka Seeks Specific Rules on Ball-tampering

The Sports Minister of Sri Lanka Faiszer Musthapha has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to establish “simple, clear rules” on Wednesday (July 18) after the Sri Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal was sanctioned for the ball-tampering fiasco.

“Laws governing the offence/act of altering the condition of the ball are somewhat vague and lack clarity,” Faiszer said in a statement.

Chandimal refused to take the field for two hours during the second Test in Antigua against the Windies. It was when on-field umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar had accused Chandimal of applying a foreign substance on the ball to alter the conditions.

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“I invite the ICC to revisit the applicable laws and ensure that a set of simple, clear and certain rules and procedures are put in place,” he added.

However, he did not elaborate on the detail. The statement came after Chandimal’s coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha were levied a sanction of eight demerit points.

The trio has been suspended for two Tests and four One-day International matches. It was due to violating the spirit of the game.

Before the start of the first Test against the South African team last week, both the skippers Chandimal and Faf du Plessis said that they wanted a list of do’s and don’ts from the ICC match referee.

Use of sweat or spit is a common practice. However, the use of other substance like sugar residue from chewing gums or other sweets is prohibited.

Chandimal has been banned for two Tests and four ODIs for representing Sri Lanka:

Chandimal was handed over eight demerit points and was slapped with 100 percent match fees. He was also banned from the final Test.

Match referee Javagal Srinath stated the violation of ICC Code of Conduct was due to Chandimal. Lankan was seen applying a foreign substance on the ball.

The change in the rules came after the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March. It saw captain Steven Smith being suspended from the Australian captaincy.

In conclusion, David Warner was the main mastermind behind this plan. Cameron Bancroft was also suspended for nine months due to the ball-tampering scandal.