Former Sri Lanka batsman Chamara Silva has been banned from all sorts of cricketing activities for two years for his role in a Tier B first-class match that saw unusual scoring rates Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) announced on Sunday. The verdict came after seven months of inquiry after the match was played between Panadura Cricket Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club earlier this year in January.

Chamara Silva and Manoj Deshapriya were banned for two years for their involvement. Many others have also slapped a ban on their participation in the game. The remaining players, administrators, and coaches were given a ban of one year while the clubs were fined with 500,000 Sri Lankan rupees (approx. US$ 3300) each.  The result of the match was also discounted which made Kalutara Physical Culture Clun face relegation.

“[Silva] is the captain-cum-coach [of Panadura], so he”s responsible.” For any team the captain is responsible. Whether he made the decision or not – we don”t know that part. But according to the ICC rules – even for slow over-rates – the captain is responsible,” SLC vice-president K Mathivanan told ESPNcricinfo.

However, there have been speculations that Silva knowingly stayed away from the final days of play because he had the information of foul play, but the board didn’t seem to agree with this theory.

“How do you know that he didn”t agree [to manipulate the result]? He could have come and given evidence in front of the independent committee [that had made the inquiry into the incident]. He never did. And also, each player had been represented by lawyers, including Chamara Silva. Lawyers appeared on behalf of all the club players.”

The board official also made it clear that it was not a case of spot-fixing. He further mentioned that the players were found guilty of not playing the game in right spirit and misconduct. At no stages, the players, coaches or administrators were suspected of taking money.