Cricket: Sri Lanka wicketkeeper faces four-year ban

Kusal Perera. Photo / Getty

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batsman Kusal Perera faces a potential four-year ban from cricket.

Sri Lanka's sports minister has announced Perera's B sample has also tested positive for a prohibited substance after he was provisionally suspended for failing an out-of-competition anti-doping test in October.

He was sent home from the tour of New Zealand earlier this month.

Sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said they're appealing because they've never found this in the last four instances.

Earlier, Jayasekera had said "We are doing all we can to defend him."

"We are wondering if this allegation is a conspiracy to keep him out of next year's T20 World Cup."

Perera faces a maximum ban of four years according to the ICC's anti-doping code.