DUBAI: Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella has been cleared to play international cricket across formats following a successful appeal against a doping ban, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Thursday.
Dickwella was banned for three years after testing positive for a banned substance following a random test carried out.
As a result, the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency (SLADA) imposed the ban in August 2024, which banned the left-handed batsman from playing professional cricket for three years.
However, in the latest twist, Dickwella appealed the sanction and provided relevant experience to prove that he did not consume the prohibited substance during the competition period and also that it was not related to improving sporting performance.
“Following a successful appeal, Dickwella’s ban has been lifted with immediate effect and he has been granted permission to play cricket in all formats,” the ICC announced in a statement.
He last represented Sri Lanka in March 2023 when he was part of the first Test of the two-match away series against New Zealand.
The left-handed batsman could only score just seven runs in the said game and was therefore ruled out of the following Test.
Niroshan Dickwella was then named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh, but failed to make the XI in any of the three matches.
For the unversed, it was the second time Dickwella was banned from playing professional cricket, the first being when Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) imposed a ban on him alongside Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis for violating bubble protocols biosecurity during the team’s game. trip to England in 2021.
