For those who don’t know, Darrell Hair was one of the two umpires involved in the Oval test match of 2006 between England and Pakistan. That’s the match which was forfeited by Pakistan because, for whatever reason, they failed to come back onto the pitch after the tea interval on the fourth day.
Much has been written and spoken about this issue and much of it is, in my opinion, balderdash of the worst kind. I’ll offer my analysis of this later in this piece but it is the opinion of Darrell Hair which is deserving of attention, not least because in the aftermath of the test he was victimised by the ICC and many people who had seemingly forgotten the right things to do in such situations. His opinion is worth highlighting in view of the ICC’s decision to retrospectively alter the match result to a draw and subsequently reverse that decision so the original result stands after being berated for its interference in the first place.
Darrell Hair, the former international umpire at the centre of the furore surrounding the 2006 Oval Test, has called on all the ICC board members involved in the original decision to change the result of the match to resign. Last weekend the ICC executive voted to overturn its ruling altering the result of the game from an England win to a draw.
“All the board members who were involved in the earlier decision should resign now,” Hair said. “And this should also include the present ICC president David Morgan. The first to go should be David Richardson [ the ICC's general manager - cricket) and Doug Cowie [the ICC's manager for umpires].
“I felt the gun was loaded by the ICC board, and Richardson and [the chief executive] Malcolm Speed were only too happy to pull the trigger.”
Darrell Hair took legal action against the ICC in the aftermath of the test match, which resulted in some embarrassing admissions from senior ICC staff before an agreement was reached. Now Hair is retired from international umpiring and living in Sydney, coaching umpires for the New South Wales Umpires and Scorers Association.
Naturally I agree with Darrell Hair’s opinions. I now offer my view of events…
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