Hair gets peers' support by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:

DB Hair

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DateLine: 19th November 2006

 

The New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association ran a full-page newspaper advertisement in Sydney Saturday in support of dumped Australian international umpire Darrell Hair. The advertisement describes the International Cricket Council's decision to axe Hair from international matches as a "travesty of justice". The ICC's decision came after Pakistan lodged a complaint against Hair for his role in the historic forfeited Oval Test against England in August and demanded an inquiry into his conduct. Hair is a life member and former president of the NSWCUSA. "The decision to remove Darrell from the Elite Panel of umpires has clearly not been taken - and cannot be justified - on grounds related to his ability as an umpire," writes NSWCUSA chairman Tim Donahoo in the open letter to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed contained in the advert. "The sole reason for this pre-emptive action can only be interpreted as a need to appease the Pakistan Cricket Board who have been noisily critical of Hair for some time, presumably because he is known as a 'no-nonsense' umpire who actually does what he is paid to do. The recent decision is a travesty of justice not only to our past President but to those of us who know and respect him as a man of integrity." Hair was recently voted Umpire of the Season by readers of Wisden Cricketer magazine. Hair won 34 percent of votes cast by readers of the English magazine despite playing a key role in the recent forfeited Test between England and Pakistan.