Sri Lanka fines cricketer for mid-air antics

Sri Lankan cricket chiefs handed down a fine Thursday of nearly USD 2,000 (INR 1.2 lakh) to a batsman who tried to force open a cabin door of a British Airways flight at 35,000 feet (10,600 metres).

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said Ramith Rambukwella had been fined 50 percent of his tour fees after a disciplinary inquiry into the incident on a Boeing 777 from St. Lucia to London at the end of an A tour to the West Indies.

SLC said the player had also received a "severe warning on his behaviour" for causing panic onboard the aircraft which was carrying 229 passengers nearly three weeks ago.

The batsman was seen by other passengers pushing and pulling the door on the plane while apparently searching for the toilet, about two hours out of London's Gatwick airport, according to British media reports.

Although British Airways said at the time that "the event was linked to an element of alcohol", Rambukwella has insisted that he was merely sleep-walking.

The airline crew had to subdue the player and reassured passengers that it was impossible to open the pressurised door mid-flight and that at no point was their safety compromised.

The SLC declined to reveal the exact amount of Rambukwella's fine although sources in the board said it was around USD 1,900 (INR 1.13 lakh).