Maurice Odumbe
Encyclopedia
Maurice Omondi Odumbe is a Kenya
n cricket
er who was suspended from cricket in August 2004 after being found guilty of receiving money from bookmakers.
Born in Nairobi
, Odumbe attended Dr Aggrey Primary School and Upper Hill secondary school, where the right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler showed aptitude for cricket. Odumbe made his debut for Kenya on 4 June 1990 against Bangladesh at Amstelveen
at the ICC Trophy
, scoring 41 and taking 1/26, and had become one of their leading players by Kenya's One Day International (ODI) debut at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
. Odumbe won the Man of the Match Award in one of cricket's biggest shocks, taking 3 for 14 in Kenya's win over West Indies.
Odumbe made his first-class
debut in 1998 when Kenya played the touring England A side, making 16 and taking 0/29, and continued to play well for his local Nairobi side, the Aga Khan club. Odumbe was appointed national captain prior to the 1999 Cricket World Cup
, winning a Man of the Match award against Sri Lanka
for his 82 off 95 deliveries. Passed over for captaincy for Steve Tikolo
for the 2003 Cricket World Cup
, Odumbe played well as Kenya made the semi-finals, and in the following year he hit a career best first-class score of 207 against the Leeward Islands
.
In March 2004, Odumbe was investigated by the International Cricket Council
following allegations of possible match-fixing and was found guilty in August 2004 of receiving money from bookmakers and banned from cricket for five years. While commentators at the time believed that the suspension would end his career, Odumbe has stated that he plans to return to cricket once the suspension ends. Odumbe has played 61 ODI matches, scoring 1409 runs at 26.09 and taking 39 wickets at 46.33, and 17 first-class matches, scoring 894 runs at 34.34 and taking 40 wickets at 19.55.
Since his suspension, Odumbe has been heavily involved in fundraising for shelters for AIDS
orphans, as well as presenting a weekly radio sports programme and appearing in a number of television commercials. He is also planning to release a song and has announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the National Democratic Development Union in the forthcoming Kenyan general election.
He returned to competitive cricket at domestic level in August 2009, aged 40.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who was suspended from cricket in August 2004 after being found guilty of receiving money from bookmakers.
Born in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Odumbe attended Dr Aggrey Primary School and Upper Hill secondary school, where the right-handed batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler showed aptitude for cricket. Odumbe made his debut for Kenya on 4 June 1990 against Bangladesh at Amstelveen
Amstelveen
' is a suburban municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the following villages and/or districts: Amstelveen, Bovenkerk, Westwijk, Bankras-Kostverloren, Groenelaan, Waardhuizen,...
at the ICC Trophy
ICC Trophy
The ICC World Cup Qualifier is an international one-day cricket tournament run under the auspices of the International Cricket Council. Any Associate or Affiliate member of the ICC may attempt to qualify for the ICC Trophy by means of a system of regional qualifying events. The test-playing Full...
, scoring 41 and taking 1/26, and had become one of their leading players by Kenya's One Day International (ODI) debut at the 1996 Cricket World Cup
1996 Cricket World Cup
The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...
. Odumbe won the Man of the Match Award in one of cricket's biggest shocks, taking 3 for 14 in Kenya's win over West Indies.
Odumbe made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut in 1998 when Kenya played the touring England A side, making 16 and taking 0/29, and continued to play well for his local Nairobi side, the Aga Khan club. Odumbe was appointed national captain prior to the 1999 Cricket World Cup
1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
, winning a Man of the Match award against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
for his 82 off 95 deliveries. Passed over for captaincy for Steve Tikolo
Steve Tikolo
- Career :He is a right-handed middle order batsman and part time right-arm medium pace bowler. He bowls quite effective offspin in the shorter form of the game. Tikolo has previously represented Border in South African domestic cricket and has also spent time playing in England and Bangladesh...
for the 2003 Cricket World Cup
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, Odumbe played well as Kenya made the semi-finals, and in the following year he hit a career best first-class score of 207 against the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
.
In March 2004, Odumbe was investigated by the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
following allegations of possible match-fixing and was found guilty in August 2004 of receiving money from bookmakers and banned from cricket for five years. While commentators at the time believed that the suspension would end his career, Odumbe has stated that he plans to return to cricket once the suspension ends. Odumbe has played 61 ODI matches, scoring 1409 runs at 26.09 and taking 39 wickets at 46.33, and 17 first-class matches, scoring 894 runs at 34.34 and taking 40 wickets at 19.55.
Since his suspension, Odumbe has been heavily involved in fundraising for shelters for AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
orphans, as well as presenting a weekly radio sports programme and appearing in a number of television commercials. He is also planning to release a song and has announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the National Democratic Development Union in the forthcoming Kenyan general election.
He returned to competitive cricket at domestic level in August 2009, aged 40.