Dilhara Lokuhettige last played for SL in July 2013[/caption]
Former Sri Lanka ODI and T20I cricketer Loku Hettige Danushka Dilhara alias Dilhara Lokuhettige was banned from all forms of cricket for eight years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday (19).
The ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal has found him guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The ban for Lokuhettige has been backdated to 3 April 2019, when he was provisionally suspended.
Found guilty of fixing-related charges
As previously announced, following full hearings and presentations of written and oral argument, the Tribunal has found Lokuhettige guilty of:
Article 2.1.1 - for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect(s) of a match.
Article 2.1.4 - Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any Participant to breach Code Article 2.1.
Article 2.4.4 - Failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in corrupt conduct under the Code.
Sri Lanka playing career
The 40-year-old former right-arm fast-medium bowler and dashing middle-order batsman, Lokuhettige was a product of Asoka Vidyalaya, Colombo. He later harnessed his bowling skills under the tutelage of Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Champaka Ramanayake.
Lokuhettige played nine ODIs and two T20Is for Sri Lanka during 2005 and 2013 and since then appeared in various franchise leagues until he came under the ICC anti-corruption scanner reportedly following the controversial 2017 Abu Dhabi T10 League, which was organised by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).
A renowned utility player for the shorter-formats, he played a crucial role in helping Sri Lanka win the 2007 Hong Kong Sixes by smashing 30 runs in a single over in Sri Lanka’s semi-final against New Zealand. In the nine ODIs, he scored 83 runs at 9.22 while taking six wickets at 43.50. He scored only 18 runs and took two wickets in his two T20Is. Yet in his 146-match first-class career, Lokuhettige took 354 wickets at 24.44 while scoring 5,464 runs at an average of 25.89, playing for Antonians SC, Galle CC, and Moors SC.
The doomed T10 league in 2017
The ICC said in a statement yesterday that Lokuhettige has also been charged by the ICC on behalf of the ECB. That is with breaching three counts of the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for participants for the T10 League “and these proceedings are ongoing,” added the ICC.
Another two Sri Lankan former players and coaches, Nuwan Zoysa and Avishka Gunawardene, were also charged with match-fixing-related allegations by the ICC in relation to the 2017 Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Both Zoysa and Gunawardene had been provisionally suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for their alleged involvement of the said competition. Gunawardene was the Head Coach of Team Sri Lanka for the T10 competition while Zoysa was the team’s Bowling Coach. The two have complained later to local sports authorities for not allowing them to explain their side of the story, with regard to those allegations, before either ICC or SLC.
Alex Marshall’s views
The match-fixing charges against Lokuhettige follow on from a 15-day amnesty granted by the ICC in January this year regarding corrupt conduct in Sri Lankan cricket, added the ICC statement. Any information on match-fixing offered during that period did not carry the usual threat of a five-year ban from cricket.
Alex Marshall, General Manager, ICC Integrity Unit, has said: “Having represented Sri Lanka in international cricket, Dilhara had attended a number of anti-corruption education sessions and would have known his actions were a breach of the Code. The severity of the sanction reflects the seriousness of his offences and his continued refusal to cooperate and should serve as a deterrent for anyone considering getting involved in corruption of any kind.”
The history of ICC charges
ICC said on 28 January this year that Lokuhettige had been found guilty of three offences under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code following a hearing by an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal.
But firstly, it was on 13 November 2018 that he was charged with three counts of breaching the ECB’s Anti-Corruption Code. The ICC, on behalf of the ECB, charged him then in relation to the said Abu Dhabi T10 League played in the UAE the previous year (2017). Lokuhettige was provisionally suspended first with immediate effect in November 2018.
Then on 4 April 2019, the ICC charged Lokuhettige with three counts of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. Those new charges were in addition to charges imposed on him on behalf of the ECB in 2018. In those 4 April 2019 charges, Lokuhettige was stated to have committed three offences that are coming under the Code’s Article 2.1.1, 2.1.4, and 2.4.4.
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On Al Jazeera, Munawar, and Dawood Ebrahim
[caption id="attachment_131008" align="alignleft" width="454"]
Dawood Ibrahim who heads the Indian organised crime syndicate “D-Company”[/caption]
Robin Morris, a professional cricketer from Mumbai, was suspected by the ICC of playing a major role in match-fixing during Sri Lanka home Test series against both Australia in 2016 and against India in 2017. The Al Jazeera news channel allegedly discovered that the groundsman of the Galle International Cricket Stadium and Morris had planned to fix the first Test between England and Sri Lanka held in Galle.
Morris told the undercover reporters that he bribed the groundsman to monitor and alter the conditions of the pitch in order to guarantee certain outcomes. The groundsman who is also the Assistant Manager of the stadium gave a statement to Al Jazeera that he can manage pitches in such a way that it would favour either batsmen or bowlers.
This Al Jazeera documentary “Cricket’s Match Fixers” identifies the groundsman and Morris along with another Sri Lankan, Tharindu Mendis, for planning to alter the pitch conditions.
The ICC launched an investigation into those revelations. Al Jazeera also claimed that two more Sri Lankans, including former Sri Lanka cricketers Jeevantha Kulatunga and Dilhara Lokuhettige, were involved in a match-fixing controversy during a T-20 series in the UAE. However, in a press release on 28 May 2018, Kulatunga declined those allegations.
The Al Jazeera documentary also revealed that Hasan Raza, Kulatunga, and Lokuhettige were preparing to make money by organising and arranging a fake tournament in the UAE solely to make a huge collection of money to fix matches in the future.
Al Jazeera also claimed that another businessman from India, Aneel Munawar, who also has close connections with crime boss Dawood Ibrahim is assumed to have dealt with a few international cricketers so as to have them under-perform on the international cricket level by giving them huge bribes, said Wikipedia recording on the Al Jazeera expose!
Dawood Ibrahim is considered an un-apprehended Indian crime lord and drug dealer. He is said to be originally from Dongri, Mumbai and heads the Indian organised crime syndicate “D-Company” which he has allegedly founded in Mumbai in the 1970s.
Al Jazeera also released photographs which were taken in Colombo’s Cinnamon Grand related to Munawar, who was standing just some distance away from the former English cricketers, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann. Both of them were part of the England’s squad at the 2012 ICC World T20 which was held in Sri Lanka.
In June 2014, Sri Lanka batsman Kaushal Lokuarachchi received an 18-month ban for failing to report an approach in relation to the alleged match and spot-fixing in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Former Bangladesh Captain Mohammad Ashraful was banned for eight years (three years suspended) while Dhaka Gladiators’ Managing Director Shihab Chowdhury was banned for ten years (three years suspended). Former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent was too out for three years for the same scandal and in February 2014, Vincent had admitted to not reporting a bookie’s approach.