Lasith Malinga has accepted a suspended one-year ban from the Sri Lanka team after being charged with breaching his national team contract.

The veteran pace bowler can take part in the forthcoming one-day international series against Zimbabwe but must remain on his best behaviour to avoid a year-long ban from his employers.

Sri Lanka Cricket imposed a 12-month ban on Malinga – suspended for six months and enforceable in the case of a further breach – following a disciplinary hearing over his remarks in a broadcast interview.

The 33-year-old, who has 291 caps across the formats, accepted the charges and made a formal apology for his response to sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara’s criticism of the Sri Lanka team for poor fielding and fitness standards during this month’s Champions Trophy.

The SLC inquiry ruled that to be Malinga’s second contravention of its players’ “terms of agreement” in a matter of days, fined him 50 per cent of his match fee for his next ODI and put him on notice about the possible suspension.

Malinga reacted on Twitter on Wednesday – although he wrongly identified the terms of the ban – writing: “Sorry to my family, friends and fans all over the world … disheartened by my ban of 6 month!!! ThankU all who support.”