SYDNEY: Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been granted bail but banned from using his social media accounts while awaiting trial on rape charges.
The 31-year-old Gunathilaka was arrested in the early hours of November 6 at a Sydney hotel where he was staying while the Sri Lankan team was in Australia for the T20 World Cup.
He is facing four counts of sexual intercourse without consent and has not entered a plea.
Magistrate Janet Wahlquist granted Gunathilaka bail on Thursday in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, where he appeared via video link from a nearby jail.
Gunathilaka had first contacted the woman on social media. The case will return to court on January 12.
Gunathilaka travelled to Australia with Sri Lanka's team but only played in the side's first game, a loss against Namibia, before being ruled out of the competition with a torn hamstring.