Sri Lanka’s captain, Dinesh Chandimal, has been charged by the ICC in relation to yesterday’s ball-tampering controversy against the West Indies.

The Sri Lanka skipper has been charged with ‘changing the condition of the ball’, an alleged offence that was spotted by the umpires after viewing television footage at the end of the day’s play.

In protest, the Sri Lanka side had refused to take the field yesterday, delaying the start of play of the third day in the second Test against West Indies in St Lucia by a full two hours, and denying any wrongdoing. The charge by the ICC was communicated on Sunday, and the ICC tweeted the following: ‘BREAKING: Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged for breaching level 2.2.9 of the ICC code of conduct.’

The last player guilty of a similar offence was Aussie batsman Cameron Bancroft, who received a fine of 75% of his match fee for his role in ‘Sandpapergate’, but additional penalties or suspensions could result from such an offence. South African captain Faf du Plessis was the previous person who was charged under code 2.2.9 before Bancroft, back in 2016, when he received a 100% fine of his match fee.

Photo: RANDY BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images