ICC appoints Michael Beloff to hear Chandimal’s appeal

Chairman of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff QC has been appointed as the Judicial Commissioner to hear Dinesh Chandimal’s appeal tomorrow (22).

ICC further said the hearing will take place on Friday, and legal counsel for both parties and Chandimal will join via telephone or videoconference. 

Earlier in the day, Chandimal denied charges of attempting to change the condition of the ball and had appealed against match referee Javagal Srinath’s verdict of banning him for one Test.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson on Tuesday charged Sri Lanka captain Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and manager Asanka Gurusinha with a breach of Article 2.3.1, a Level 3 offence, which relates to “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”. While Chandimal has appealed, he could stand to miss both Tests against South Africa in July and further ODIs if found guilty.

On-field umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould, and third umpire Richard Kettleborough had charged Chandimal after play on Saturday for changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3 of the ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and T20I Playing Conditions.

The officials laid the charge after television footage from the final session’s play on Friday appeared to show the Sri Lanka captain taking substance out from his left pocket and putting them in his mouth, before applying the artificial substance to the ball which the umpires viewed as an attempt to change its condition.