Sri Lankan Jeffrey Vandersay punished with fine and suspension for "night-out"
What's the story
Sri-Lankan legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay was found guilty of violating the code of conduct and has been duly punished with a fine and a one-year-long suspension.
The judgment against the player comes out as subsequent actions to his removal from the Sri Lankan Test squad that recently toured the Windies, where he had been accused of engaging in disciplinary violations.
In case you didn't know...
Jeffrey Vandersay is a player with a history of disciplinary issues. As such, this is not Vandersay's first brush with controversy as he was also warned after missing domestic games ahead of the tour of India. This happened last year.
About last month's incident at the Windies' tour, it is understood that Vandersay and three other players had visited a nightclub in St. Lucia immediately after the last day's play second Test match, which did not produce a result in either team's favor.
He failed to return back even by the next morning, and due to security reasons, the team management made a complaint to the police after the 28-year-old was not found in his room the following morning.
Vandersay turned up at the hotel several hours later and tried to explain his situation to the team management. He reportedly said that the other players had got back to the hotel leaving him alone in the nightclub, after which he had lost his way.
He was immediately removed from the squad and sent home, thereby ending his participation in the series. He was also made out-of-contention for selection into the now-ongoing South Africa series at Sri Lanka itself.
The details
Jeffrey was fined 20 percent of his annual contract and also handed a one-year suspension from any International cricketing assignments, for breaching an official Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Code of Conduct.
As mentioned above, Vandersay's tour of the Caribbean ended on June 23rd but his punishment was delayed as the Sri Lanka Cricket board waited for the series to end, giving an inquiry committee time to fully study a report on the incident. The report was submitted by the team manager on the tour, Asanka Gurusinha.
The suspension and fine were imposed on Jeffrey Vandersay following the player's admission of guilt over the incident. He has also been informed by the SLC that any breach of the contractual obligations during the period of serving punishment would be severely dealt with and that any punishment would add-on to the terms of the current one being served.
What's next
Sri Lanka has already planned up several future tours into the near future, one with England coming up in October, as Australia and South Africa follow suit. The team will also feature in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019 May and June.
As of now, Jeffrey will have to stay away from participation in all these series and the major competition next year, and it could be a huge loss for the player. At the same time, it also serves as a warning as to what other players can lose in terms of games and opportunities, as they will be more careful to breach codes of conduct.