NAIROBI, Aug 17: Former Kenya captain Maurice Odumbe was banned from the game for five years on Tuesday after being found to have had inappropriate contact with a bookmaker.

The Kenya Cricket Association imposed the ban after its executive board met to decide Odumbe's punishment. A Zimbabwean judge who oversaw a four-day International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing in July made the recommendation to the Kenyan body on Monday.

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

International cricket's ruling body charged Odumbe, 35, with making inappropriate contact with an Indian bookmaker. Former Zimbabwean Supreme Court Judge Ahmed Ebrahim ruled that there was enough evidence to support those charges, after hearing four days of testimony.

Odumbe said he planned to appeal against the verdict and was disappointed. 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," he said. -Reuters