Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka denied bail, suspended from 'all forms of cricket' by SLC

Sri Lanka batsman Danushka Gunathilaka on Monday was denied bail by a Sydney court, after being arrested and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. Gunathilaka was arrested from the team's hotel in Sydney's central business district, while the rest of side has flown back to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva has said "we are supporting [Gunathilaka], definitely," according to ESPNCricinfo, but then declined to elaborate further.

However, soon after that, the cricket board issued a fresh statement suspending Gunathilaka "from all forms of cricket with immediate effect... after being informed that Mr. Gunathilaka was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a woman in Australia."

The SLC statement also said it will "will take the necessary steps to promptly carry out an inquiry into the alleged offense and, upon conclusion of the court case in Australia, steps will be taken to penalise the said player if found guilty". The statement further read that it "adopts a "zero tolerance" policy for any such conduct by a player and will provide all the required support to the Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident".

Magistrate Robert Williams in Sydney stated that Gunathilaka had no criminal history, but the bail bid was refused.

Gunathilaka's lawyer Anand Amaranath called the decision "disappointing" and confirmed that his client would be appealing to the Supreme Court, the ESPNCricnfo report further revealed. Even though Gunathilaka would be released from custody - he is currently in a correctional facility - if granted bail, he will have to stay put in Australia "until the case is finalised", Amaranath said. As the charges are serious, the process could even take longer than a year.

The lawyer also said SLC would be footing Gunathilaka's legal expenses, at least for now. "I've been communicating with people from all levels at the board," Amaranath added. While the board was paying for Gunathilaka's defense for now, he expected those funds to be "recovered from him later - it's a loan essentially".