PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC

The International Cricket Council's recent decision to uphold the two-year ban on West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels has been met with disappointment from the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA).

WIPA president and chief executive, Dinanath Ramnarine said on Friday that the players' association maintained the view that the Jamaica-born cricketer was innocent of the charges laid against him.

"We at the West Indies Players' Association believe that Marlon is innocent in all of this and we will continue to give unqualified support to the player and his legal team in their quest to clear his good name and resume his cricketing career in the shortest possible time," Ramnarine said.

At its annual conference which concluded on Thursday, the ICC announced it had accepted the ban imposed on Samuels by the West Indies Cricket Board's disciplinary committee earlier this year.

In a statement, the world gov-erning body said it had reviewed the decision and had found it appropriate.

In May, Samuels was suspended for breaching the ICC's Code of Conduct after being found guilty of "receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute."

Former West Indies captain Richie Richardson, who sat on the disciplinary committee, subsequently criticised the ICC's regulations governing the punishment.

It was also reported that lawyers representing Samuels planned to challenge the ruling.