Sri Lanka cricket coach dies in player altercation

A 62-year-old coach has died due to an altercation with players during a cricket match in Colombo.

A 62-year-old coach, who once mentored former Sri Lanka cricket captain Kusal Mendis in his schooldays, has died due to an altercation with players during a cricket match in Colombo.

A 62-year-old coach has died due to an altercation with players during a cricket match in Colombo (PTI)

Police said Thursday, a 17-year-old school player was arrested on Monday on suspicion of assaulting Sumith Fernando and was put under child probation custody till August 17 after he was produced before a Colombo court on Tuesday.

A dispute over drinking water had led to the altercation involving two players on August 8, following which Fernando was taken to a hospital, where he died on Tuesday while receiving treatment.

Fernando was a former coach of Prince of Wales College in the Colombo suburb of Moratuwa. Among others under his tutelage were national ODI captain Mendis as a schoolboy cricketer and many other top school-level cricketers.

He was also later the curator of the Bloomfield Cricket & Athletic Club, a club in the island's first-class competition.

Fernando's funeral took place on Thursday.