Maurice Omondi Odumbe (born 15 June 1969) is a former

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er and a former ODI captain for Kenya. Odumbe was suspended from cricket in August 2004 after he allegedly received money from bookmakers. He was appointed the coach of the

Kenya national cricket team The Kenya national cricket team represents the Republic of Kenya in international cricket. Kenya is an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) which has Twenty20 International (T20I) status after the ICC granted T20I status ...

in April 2018. However, he was replaced as national coach by

David Obuya David Oluoch Obuya (born 14 August 1979) is a former Kenyan cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper. Obuya first played cricket at the Under-19s World Cup of 1998, where he starred as the opening batsman. International care ...

in October 2018.

School time

Born in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

, 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.

Domestic career

Odumbe made his first-class debut in 1998 when Kenya played the touring

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A side, making 16 and taking 0/29, and continued to play well for his local Nairobi side, the Aga Khan club. In the year 2004, he hit a career best first-class score of 207 against the

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International career

Odumbe made his debut for

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

on 4 June 1990 against

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at the ICC Trophy, scoring 41 and taking 1/26, and had become one of their leading players by Kenya's

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) debut at the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

. 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 The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. Odumbe was appointed national captain prior to the

1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...

, winning a Man of the Match award against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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-final as well against India.

Ban

In March 2004, Odumbe was investigated by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

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.

Returned to Cricket

He returned to competitive cricket at domestic level in August 2009, aged 40.Daily Nation, 16 August 2009
Odumbe back in action after ban
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Beyond cricket

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 was also planning to release a song and stood as a candidate for the

National Democratic Development Union National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in the Kenyan general election of 2007.

References

External links

* Nato, K. (2007) "Rebranded Odumbe Now Playing Different Ball Game", ''The Nation'', Nairobi, 17 March 2007. * Williamson, M. (2004) "Maurice Odumbe", ''Cricinfo''

Accessed 7 April 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Odumbe, Maurice 1969 births Living people Cricketers from Nairobi Kenyan cricketers Kenya One Day International cricketers Kenyan cricket captains Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya Cricketers banned for corruption