Pakistan vs England

[Lahori paa jee]

Darrell Hair offered to resign as a member of the ICC's Elite Umpires Panel in return for a payment of $500,000, Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told a press conference near Lord's.
Speed said Hair's resignation letter was forwarded to Doug Cowie, the ICC's umpire manager. A copy of that letter was also made available to the Pakistan Cricket Board.

In the letter, Hair asked for "a one-off payment to compensate for the loss of future earnings and retainer payments over the next four years, which I believe would have been the best years I have to offer ICC and world umpiring."

Speed said that he was shocked and "thought it was a silly letter." He continued: "This issue has been marked by a series of unfortunate and entirely avoidable overreactions," adding that he believed that Hair did not have any malicious intent.

"I am confident, as is David Richardson (the ICC's general manager - cricket), who has been intimately involved in these matters, that Darrell had no dishonest, underhand or malicious intent. He was seeking to find a solution that was in the interests of the game."

Speed admitted that he was surprised by Hair's letter and consulted three lawyers independently before making the contents of the letter public. "When I received the letters I was extremely surprised by the content, as was David. I was concerned as to how I should deal with it and in part whether I was required to disclose the contents."

"I then consulted three lawyers. They were consulted independently of each other and didn't know I had consulted other lawyers."

Speed said he was distressed that the issue had created lot of speculation and misinformation in the media as well as allegations of racial bias. "This issue has created unprecedented media and public issue... There is a huge amount of misinformation, speculation and conjecture in different parts of the world. There have been accusations of racism.

"It involves two separate issues. Did the Pakistan team change the ball in an illegal manner? Secondly, when Pakistan refused to take the field, did that bring the game into disrepute? They are cricket issues. The ICC Code of Conduct provides a mechanism to dispense justice on cricket issues and that's the process we are trying to achieve here."

The letter, a copy of which was released to the media, quoted Hair as saying that he was willing to relinquish the umpire's job from August 31. "I am prepared to retire/stand down/relinquish my position on the elite panel to take effect from August 31, 2006. This payment is to be the sum of $500,000, details of which must be kept confidential by both parties.

"ICC may announce the retirement in anyway they wish but I would prefer a simple "lifestyle choice" as this was the very reason I moved from Australia to settle in the UK three years ago."

http://wwwc4.cricinfo.com/engvpak/c...ory/257781.html

My dear friends Pakistan now has a very strong case. Darrells days are over

 

[A.Rahman]

My dear friends Pakistan now has a very strong case. Darrells days are over

Truth always wins!

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I am gald that his man has hung himself.

Racist.

 

[Spring Onion]

He was at fault and the action pakistani team has taken is also a good omen for other Asian teams as we had seen our teams are best but often subjected to racism.

BTW if we refused to play the one dayers ICC would have to face loss of millions of dollars.

 

[Srirangan]

Hmm .. all this drama aside .. when does the cricket action start? We had our stupid Lanka series washed out totally ..

 

[Neo]

I am gald that his man has hung himself.

Racist.

Finally showed his true face!
Good for us, good for cricket!

 

[KashifAsrar]

Hair’s brush with career suicide

‘Blackmail Letter’ Might Signal End Of Umpire’s Officiating Days; Dickie Bird Says Inzamam Should Now Be Acquitted



London: Darrell Hair’s demand for $500,000 in return for quitting as Test umpire was on Saturday seen by former experts and umpires as potentially the biggest controversy in the 129-year history of international cricket. Many even predicted that this would signal the end of his career.
Amidst suggestions that the burly Australian should be charged by the ICC, Dickie Bird, arguably the greatest umpire ever, said Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq should be acquitted of the charges levelled against him following the controversial fourth Test against England.
Bird said he was “absolutely shocked and stunned” about the happenings since Hair accused Pakistan of ball tampering at the Oval last Sunday. Subsequently, Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was charged with ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute for which he will face a disciplinary hearing.
Bird said, “There have been controversies going back through the history of cricket and the closest would be ‘Bodyline’ in 1933, but never anything like this. It is looking like the charges against Inzamam are going to be dropped. Everybody should have used a little bit of common sense and tried to finish the Test.”
Former England captain Michael Atherton thought that Hair’s time as a Test umpire was over. Atherton said it was “extraordinary” that Hair had not been charged with any offence by the ICC. “It seems extraordinary when you consider that Inzamam has been charged on two counts, one of ball tampering and one for bringing the game into disrepute, while Darrell Hair finds himself under no charge whatsoever.”

 

[KashifAsrar]

‘I WAS LIKE PULLING A GUN ON ICC’

There has been a whole host of negative reactions in the wake of Darrell Hair’s offer that he would quit from the ICC’s Elite Panel of umpires in return for $500,000.

It was essentially a blackmail note to his employers, the International Cricket Council. That makes his position as an umpire untenable. Derek Pringle, FORMER ENGLAND PLAYER

Who umpires the umpires? What Hair has just done is make himself a laughing stock. It weakens his case considerably because it smacks of somebody just interested in money. It's amazing to think that on Sunday night he was blocking a restart in the Test match on a point of principle, and then 36 hours later he was sending this letter. I'm sorry, but to me, that's just a joke. Geoffrey Boycott, FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN

Darrell Hair was probably advised to do what he has done. He was under a huge amount of pressure. It didn’t help when he had the Pakistan team saying they wouldn’t have Darrell Hair as an umpire again and Bangladesh following suit. It’s not the sort of thing you need. Mike Gatting, FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN

It will be hard for Hair to umpire at not just international level but also first-class level. Allan Lamb, FORMER ENGLAND BATSMAN

He does what he thinks is right regardless of the consequences. My immediate reaction was ‘typical Darrell’. Dave Richardson, ICC GENERAL MANAGER (CRICKET)

This is between ICC and Darrell Hair. It doesn’t concern us. Our biggest issue is that we want to play in front of British crowds. Hair says one thing and then another. What he is thinking and how it will affect us I do not know. Zaheer Abbas, PAKISTAN TEAM MANAGER

I was shocked. I thought it was a silly letter. Malcolm Speed, ICC CEO

It’s like putting a gun on the ICC. He should have shown more tolerance and flexibility and not allowed things to degenerate to such a level. Piloo Reporter, FORMER TEST UMPIRE