An investigation by Sri Lanka's sports ministry has found evidence that members of the national women's cricket team had been forced to perform sexual favours for officials in order to earn or keep their places in the squad.

The probe, sparked by reports that a player had been dropped for refusing to have sex with cricketing officials, uncovered "shameful" evidence of sexual harassment inflicted on female players, according to the three-member committee tasked with leading the investigation.

Headed by retired Supreme Court judge Nimal Dissanayake, the committee submitted its findings in a report to the sport's ministry on Wednesday.

"The committee report found evidence of sexual harassment by members of the Sri Lanka cricket women's management team against several members of the Sri Lanka cricket women's team," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The allegations, which first appeared in the Sinhala-language newspaper , said the senior player was dropped from the squad after she refused to perform sexual favours.