Odumbe banned for five years

Former Kenya captain Maurice Odumbe was banned from the game for five years on Tuesday after being found guilty of inappropriate contact with a bookmaker.

The Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) imposed the suspension after its executive board met to decide Odumbe's punishment.

Former Zimbabwean Supreme Court Judge Ahmed Ebrahim, who oversaw a four-day International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing in July, made the recommendation to the KCA on Monday.

"The judge recommended that Maurice Odumbe be banned for five years for inappropriate contact with a known bookie, and we have endorsed those recommendations," KCA chairman Sharad Ghei said.

International cricket's ruling body had charged the 35-year-old Odumbe, whose international career now looks to be over, with bringing the game into disrepute.

"In light of the findings of the Ebrahim Report, the decision by the KCA to implement the recommendation for a five year ban is entirely appropriate," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement.

Odumbe said he planned to appeal against his ban, which takes effect immediately and rules him out of next month's Champions Trophy.

"I am shocked and surprised, but life has to go on," Odumbe told reporters after the verdict.

Odumbe had faced a ban ranging from two years to life or a fine of an unlimited amount. His lawyer, Ishan Kapila, called the ruling discriminatory.

"This decision is unfair and ridiculous and a breach of the national justice. We'll appeal to every available forum," Kapila said.

UNEQUIVOVAL ASSESSMENT

Ebrahim's assessment of Odumbe's actions was unequivocal.

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"Far from shouldering this responsibility, Mr Odumbe has shown himself to be dishonest and devious in his behaviour in relation to the game of cricket," Ebrahim wrote. "He has been callous and greedy in the way he has conducted himself.

"Far from taking heed of the warnings of the dire consequences which would follow such behaviour that the ICC has spread across the cricket world, Mr Odumbe chose to thumb his nose at all these warnings and continued his dishonest ways."

Odumbe, an all rounder, has scored over 1,400 runs and taken 39 wickets in 61 one-day internationals since his debut in 1990.

He sprung to prominence at the 1996 World Cup when he was named man of the match for a spell of three for 14 that helped Kenya to a huge upset win over West Indies.

Odumbe captained Kenya at the 1999 World Cup and played a key role in their shock run to the 2003 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa.

Speed, meanwhile, has written to the chief executives of all the Test-playing countries to highlight the importance of continuing the fight against corruption in the sport.

"The Ebrahim Report is sobering reading for everyone in the game," Speed said. "It highlights that the risk of corruption remains very real and everyone must be alert to the dangers."