A Colombo newspaper has claimed that Australian authorities "harassed and humiliated" the Sri Lankan team when they arrived in Brisbane for the VB Series. The Daily News said the Sri Lankan team was detained for two-and-a-half hours at Brisbane airport on Wednesday while authorities went through their bags and demanded they wash their shoes before entering the country.

"The foreign ministry should take this matter up with the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka and hold an inquiry into this rather sad state of affairs which concerns an international cricket team, who don't deserve this type of humiliation to play cricket in a nation ruled by convicts," the Daily News said.

It described the the "harassment" at the airport was seen by the team as a "ploy of gaining a psychological hold" over them ahead of the VB Series. However Australia has strict quarantine laws that require scrutiny of shoes that have been in contact with dirt in foreign countries.

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