Image copyright Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi Image caption The staff had not been told of the arrangement and many had not brought a spare pair of trousers

Sri Lanka's cricket board has apologised to ground staff who were ordered to strip off and return the uniforms it provided before being paid.

The incident happened after the final match in the one-day series between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at the Hambantota stadium on Monday.

Images on social media showed some of the temporary staff walking off in their underpants.

To add insult to injury, Sri Lanka lost the match and the series.

The affected staff were among about 100 young local people contracted temporarily on a daily wage of 1,000 rupees ($6.50; £5) to carry out ground duties at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Sri Lanka's Sunday Times website reports.

After the match they were told they would have to give back their trousers, sporting the SLC logo, before getting paid.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Zimbabwe won its first major overseas one-day series since 2001 with Monday's victory

The Times said the staff had not been told of the arrangement and many had not brought a spare pair.

The Sri Lankan cricket board said in a statement: "Whilst stern action will be taken against those responsible, Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to apologise to those subjected to this ignominy, and will take steps to ensure they are compensated."

The board's misery was compounded by the 3-2 series loss to Zimbabwe.

It was Zimbabwe's first major overseas one-day series win since 2001.