Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka charged with sexual assault in Sydney

Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka was denied bail by a court in Sydney on Monday after being charged with sexual assault while he was in Australia to play in the T20 World Cup.

Gunathilaka was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Sri Lankan team hotel following a police investigation into reports a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted last week.

New South Wales (NSW) Police claimed the pair had been in contact for several days through an online dating app before Gunathilaka is alleged to have committed sexual assault on Wednesday evening.

Gunathilaka has been charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

On Monday, his application for bail was denied by the court and he has since been suspended following his arrest, the country's cricket board said on Monday.

"Sri Lanka Cricket will not consider him for any selections", it said in a statement.

The cricketer's defence lawyer Ananda Amaranath did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gunathilaka had remained with Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup squad in Australia despite being ruled out of the tournament at the first-round stage because of a left hamstring tear.

At tournaments under its jurisdiction, the International Cricket Council has security liaison officers in each city and they are the first to be informed by anything police-related.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) issued a statement on Sunday saying it would "closely monitor the proceedings in court and, in consultation with the ICC, will expeditiously initiate a thorough inquiry into the matter and take stern action against the player if found guilty."

Sri Lanka's final game at this year's T20 World Cup was a four-wicket defeat against England in Sydney on Saturday.