SLC forms five-member panel to probe Durham bubble breach

SLC has formed a five-member panel to probe the incident in which three Sri Lanka players - Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis - breached the team's biosecure bubble in Durham on June 27.

The trio flew back home early from the tour of England and has been suspended pending an inquiry into the incident.

The five-member panel comprises justice Nimal Dissanayaka, a retired judge of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, three attorneys-at-law in Panduka Keerthinanda, Asela Rekawa and Uchitha Wickremasinghe, and MRW De Zoysa, a retired major general.

SLC's medical staff are understood to have found out about the bubble breach via social media, when a video emerged showing Dickwella and Mendis out in a public place. Gunathilaka was not in the video but is believed to have stepped out along with the other two. According to SLC officials, all three admitted to visiting Durham's City Centre, which the tour's Covid-19 protocols had forbidden them from doing.

The investigation of the bubble breach comes at a difficult time for Sri Lankan cricket, both on and off the field, with a standoff between the players and the board having just come to a temporary resolution with the signing of contracts covering the upcoming white-ball series against India.

Senior batter Angelo Mathews, however, has declined to sign a contract, and is reportedly considering retirement. A leadership change also appears to be on the cards, with Kusal Perera - who is believed to have played a played a central role in the contracts standoff - potentially losing the white-ball captaincy to Dasun Shanaka.