Grant Flower faces Sri Lanka inquiry over virus bubble breach
Grant Flower faces Sri Lanka inquiry over virus bubble breach
Admin
Sri Lanka's cricket board is planning disciplinary action against batting coach Grant Flower following allegations that he breached a bio-secure bubble during an England tour, cricket sources said Thursday.
Sri Lanka's preparations for a home series against India were disrupted when Flower, 50, tested positive for COVID-19 on his return to the national team on 6 July.
Three Sri Lankan players, including vice-captain Kusal Mendis, were sent home early after they left the team's bio-secure hotel for a night out in Durham ahead of the first one-day international.
Official sources said Sri Lanka Cricket will investigate reports that Flower also breached the COVID-19 restrictions.
"An inquiry will be held after he (Flower) recovers fully," a board source told AFP. "There are allegations that he also breached the bio-secure bubble."
Media reports said the board was also unhappy with the performance of Flower, a former Zimbabwe Test player who is under contract until the end of the year.
Sri Lanka are eighth in the Test team rankings and ninth in one-day formats and team morale is reportedly low. The players have been at loggerheads with the board over new performance-linked contracts.
The board has brought in local coach Dhammika Sudarshana as a temporary replacement for Flower for three one-day games and three Twenty20 matches against India starting Sunday.
The India matches were delayed by five days to 18 July following positive tests of Flower and a team's data analyst.
