Test cricketer Hashan Tillakaratne suspended

Sri Lanka Test cricketer Hashan Tillakaratne was suspended by his club Nondescripts CC (NCC) following the incident that took place at the club premises involving former Test cricketer and national selector Sidath Wettimuny on Tuesday.

The NCC executive committee which met at their monthly meeting on Friday, tabled the letter submitted by Wettimuny and the explanation given by Tillakaratane with regard to the incident which took place at the club premises involving the two individuals.

They also spoke to another club member Rumesh Ratnayake who was a key witness at the incident, before deciding to suspend Tillakaratne from the club.

A club spokesman said that Tillakaratne will be allowed permission to enter the club premises only if he is on national duty. The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) have their practice nets at the NCC and it is frequently used by the national pool players for training and practice. Tillakaratne is a member of the national pool.

The spokesman said a three-man sub-committee will record the statements of Wettimuny, Tillakaratne and Ratnayake and submit their report to the executive committee of the NCC within 10 days.

The sub-committee is headed by senior vice-president of the club and architect Elmo de Silva, and comprises DIG (Traffic) Camillus Abeygunawardena and retired SSP and former Sri Lanka Tennis Association president John Rajapakse - all men of whom high repute and standing.

The club spokesman said that the decision of the executive committee to suspend Tillakaratne, has been conveyed to the BCCSL, who had requested to be informed of the stance taken by the club with regard to the incident.

Wettimuny made a complaint to the Cinnamon Gardens police on Tuesday, after he was verbally abused and threatened with his life by Tillakaratne at the NCC premises when he had come to pick his son up from coaching classes.

Wettimuny took a tough stand as chairman of selectors when he substituted experience with youth following Sri Lanka's dipping fortunes and their failure to successfully defend the World Cup in England last year. It was a move that paid off well with Sri Lanka's cricketing stocks rising once again from the depths it had fallen to.

In the course of that clean up, individuals like Tillakaratne, Roshan Mahanama, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva all came before the selectors' axe. Mahanama eventually retired from the game and Ranatunga followed suit recently. De Silva has been selected and discarded while Tillakaratne has not been able to make it to the national side for over a year. He was recalled to the national pool recently, but his recent actions has cast a doubt on his international cricket future.