David EdwardsHair Definitely Out Of Place
August 27th 2006 08:06
Well, now we have gotten the obvious cliché’ headline out of the way, let’s talk about how cricket umpire Darrell Hair has presented himself over the past week.
First things first, I believe that he was completely in the right when it came to the scandal during the fourth test. With his experience and knowledge of the game, he thought that the Pakistan team were in fact ball-tampering. Whether they in fact were or were not cheating is irrelevant. Hair still consulted in point with fellow umpire Doctrove, and offered the English batsman a new ball if needed before deciding that Pakistan should be penalised five runs.
The punishment was minor enough for the Pakistan squad to simply play the remainder of the match, and then bring it up after the game. However the squad preferred to stand by their convictions and not return to the field after play was stopped due to bad light. Without the fielding side returning to play, Hair essentially had no option but to forfeit the match for the first time in Test history, and award the match to England.
But this is not the end of the saga. With the claims of ‘racism’ and ‘prejudice’ by the Pakistan, Indian and Sri Lankan sides (who have their own personal beef with umpire Hair due to the Muralitharan ‘chucking’ scandal a few years back) all threatening to boycott any future games he was in charge of, the ICC were looking at a international incident on their hands, something that they did not need so close to the Champions Trophy, the World Cup next year, and the biggest Ashes to be played for sometime in between.
With such pressure from all sides, Darrell Hair had to keep his cool and make sure that he didn’t add fuel to the fire. Even though there was increased speculation that Hair would not umpire again, he has endured such criticism before, and in fact many cricket fans respected him to be one of the few umpires out there who would adhere to the rule book regardless of the scandal that would result.
However Hair did something that seems so outrageous and out of place, the few supporters who still backed him would have turned away. With his dismissal imminent, he decided that the best thing for him to do is to offer the ICC his resignation… to the tune of half a million dollars.
Writing a letter to the ICC, he stated that for the $500,000 for “loss of payments”, they would be able to state whatever reason they wish for his dismissal. However the money payed would not limit Hair to take any legal avenue his saw fit, including cases against the Pakistan captain, the Pakistan squad, and even the ICC itself.
Putting aside the sheer stupidity of the umpire for a moment, this was an agreement that the ICC would never say yes to. Not only did it give Hair the easy way out, but it would also leave them holding the bag and also leave them open to further attacks.
But I am still trying to comprehend why Hair would even consider doing such a thing. Not only has it made his case against the ball-tampering claim seem weak, simply for the fact that the umpire himself would walk away rather than fight the claims that he is an ‘racist’, but it also dismisses all the good work he has done for the game of cricket over his career. I will admit it, I was once a big fan of how Hair managed the game, but now if he is not even willing to stand up and defend what he believed was right, regardless of the scandal, then it completely cancels out all his hard work throughout his career.
Until next time, sport fans.
First things first, I believe that he was completely in the right when it came to the scandal during the fourth test. With his experience and knowledge of the game, he thought that the Pakistan team were in fact ball-tampering. Whether they in fact were or were not cheating is irrelevant. Hair still consulted in point with fellow umpire Doctrove, and offered the English batsman a new ball if needed before deciding that Pakistan should be penalised five runs.
The punishment was minor enough for the Pakistan squad to simply play the remainder of the match, and then bring it up after the game. However the squad preferred to stand by their convictions and not return to the field after play was stopped due to bad light. Without the fielding side returning to play, Hair essentially had no option but to forfeit the match for the first time in Test history, and award the match to England.
But this is not the end of the saga. With the claims of ‘racism’ and ‘prejudice’ by the Pakistan, Indian and Sri Lankan sides (who have their own personal beef with umpire Hair due to the Muralitharan ‘chucking’ scandal a few years back) all threatening to boycott any future games he was in charge of, the ICC were looking at a international incident on their hands, something that they did not need so close to the Champions Trophy, the World Cup next year, and the biggest Ashes to be played for sometime in between.
With such pressure from all sides, Darrell Hair had to keep his cool and make sure that he didn’t add fuel to the fire. Even though there was increased speculation that Hair would not umpire again, he has endured such criticism before, and in fact many cricket fans respected him to be one of the few umpires out there who would adhere to the rule book regardless of the scandal that would result.
However Hair did something that seems so outrageous and out of place, the few supporters who still backed him would have turned away. With his dismissal imminent, he decided that the best thing for him to do is to offer the ICC his resignation… to the tune of half a million dollars.
Writing a letter to the ICC, he stated that for the $500,000 for “loss of payments”, they would be able to state whatever reason they wish for his dismissal. However the money payed would not limit Hair to take any legal avenue his saw fit, including cases against the Pakistan captain, the Pakistan squad, and even the ICC itself.
Putting aside the sheer stupidity of the umpire for a moment, this was an agreement that the ICC would never say yes to. Not only did it give Hair the easy way out, but it would also leave them holding the bag and also leave them open to further attacks.
But I am still trying to comprehend why Hair would even consider doing such a thing. Not only has it made his case against the ball-tampering claim seem weak, simply for the fact that the umpire himself would walk away rather than fight the claims that he is an ‘racist’, but it also dismisses all the good work he has done for the game of cricket over his career. I will admit it, I was once a big fan of how Hair managed the game, but now if he is not even willing to stand up and defend what he believed was right, regardless of the scandal, then it completely cancels out all his hard work throughout his career.
Until next time, sport fans.
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FootyTips
I have actually lost my respect for Hair. I used to like the guy for sticking his neck out and making the call. I have no doubt that the Pakistan side were ball tampering, they have done it for years, but his claims looked desperate when he wanted the pay out!