MARLON SAMUELS can still depend on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for assistance.

After the talented batsman was slapped with a two-year ban for breaching the International Cricket Council's code of conduct, WICB chief executive officer Dr Donald Peters said the player wouldbe offered support.

"I have written to Mr Samuels and offered him all the help needed to get his life in order,"Peters said.

The WICB announced three days ago that Samuels had been found guilty of violating the ICC Rules of Conduct 4 IX, which involves "receiving money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute".

The judgement by the WICB's disciplinary committee came out of an incident on the West Indies tour of India in January 2007, when there were allegations Samuels had passed on match information ahead of the ODI in Nagpur on January 21 and then received payment for a hotel stay in Mumbai at the end of the tour.

Asked whether he felt Samuels had been naive in his actions, Peters replied: "Yes. We in the West Indies have no experience of match-fixing.

"Players are not exposed to that kind of behaviour. It's unfortunate that when they travel overseas, they are confronted with the spectre of match-fixing and one out of 15 will most likely get in trouble unless they are trained and counselled."

Peters said he was going to speak to the players in Antigua for a training camp ahead of the three-Test series against Australia starting next Thursday, "to remind them of how dangerous it is to be out there".
(CMC)