Sri Lanka batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage banned from playing cricket for one year due to misconduct

Sri Lanka batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage has been slapped with a one-year ban from all forms of the game by the country's cricket authorities after he was found guilty of misconduct and breaching the International Cricket Council's (ICC) code of conduct. According to local reports, the batsman was involved in a late night public brawl in Colombo in June, his second such disciplinary issue in the past two years.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) disciplinary committee found Vithanage in breach of ICC's code of conduct in a hearing conducted on 16 June, which means that the 25-year-old will be ineligible for international and A team cricket, while he will also be unable to represent his local club Tamil Union.

In September 2014, Vithanage was fined his full match fee and handed a suspended sentence of one year after leaving a team hotel overnight during the middle of a Test match in Galle against Pakistan.

"The Disciplinary Committee was presented with written and oral evidence from witnesses to the incident in question and Vithanage was invited to present similar evidence in his defense", SLC said in a statement.

"After a closed hearing, and in consideration of the evaluation of the evidence presented, the Disciplinary Committee has recommended an immediate suspension, specifically drawing attention to the fact that the conduct of Vithanage is unacceptable when considering his status as a public figure and role model for the youth of Sri Lanka."

The southpaw who played 10 Tests for his country scored 370 runs at an average of 26.42 with a highest score of 103*, which came against Bangladesh in 2014. He also played six One Day Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 games. He last played for his country during Sri Lanka's tour of New Zealand in December and January but was dropped after posting scores of 22, 38, 0 and 9.