Darrell Hair - 2006 Ball Tampering Incident

2006 Ball Tampering Incident

On the fourth day of the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval, Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove ruled that the Pakistani team had been involved in ball tampering. They awarded five penalty runs to England and offered them a replacement ball. In protest the Pakistani players refused to take the field after the tea break. After 30 minutes the umpires removed the bails, declared England winners by forfeiture. The Pakistani team took the field 25 minutes later, but the umpires stated that the game had ended the moment the bails were removed. The Test was abandoned and the match awarded to England. The ICC, ECB and PCB later affirmed that the decision to award the match to England was in accordance with the laws of cricket. Former cricketers Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram criticised Hair for ending the game. Steve Waugh backed the umpires' decision, saying "No-one is bigger than the game. The laws are there for a reason."

In an e-mail to the ICC Hair wrote that he would resign from the ICC Elite Umpire Panel in return for a non-negotiable one-off payment of US$500,000 directly into his bank account. Hair wrote that the payment was to compensate for the loss of future earnings and retainer payments. On 27 August, Hair stated that he had been in negotiations with the ICC prior to him sending the email, a statement denied by the ICC. Hair subsequently revoked the offer and in a press conference on 28 September 2006 reiterated that he never considered retirement.

On 28 September, Inzamam was acquitted of the ball tampering charge, but received a ban from four one day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute. The ICC-appointed match officials (Hair, Doctrove, Jesty, Cowie, Procter, and Peter Hartley) remained of the opinion that markings on the ball indicated tampering. At a press conference after the hearing the ICC announced that Hair would not be umpiring at the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy because of security concerns. On 4 November 2006, Hair was banned from officiating in international matches by the ICC following a two-day meeting held by the ICC. Malcolm Speed, CEO of the ICC, stated that there there is "no issue" with the result of the Oval Test match. The decision was met with praise from the Pakistani board, who had previously called for Hair to be sacked.

Javed Miandad said that the move by the ICC sets an example to other umpires and Bangladesh Captain Habibul Bashar also supported the decision. Former Sri Lankan captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, welcomed the decision saying that "Hair had a prejudice against Asian teams. I am happy that he is finally out".Ricky Ponting said he was surprised by the ICC's move to ban Hair and Cricket Australia demanded the ICC explain the reasons for Hair being stood down. At the time, Hair had not ruled out taking legal action after the decision. Billy Doctrove, the other umpire during the Oval Test, is unaffected by the ICC's ban on Hair, though he was also overlooked for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. In the aftermath of the Oval incident Hair was voted Umpire of the Season in a poll carried out by The Wisden Cricketer. A leaked ICC report showed that before the Oval incident, Hair was ranked the second-best umpire overall and number one in decision-making.

In February 2007 Hair announced he was suing the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board on grounds of racial discrimination. Hair said that he was made a scapegoat when he was barred from officiating Test matches after the forfeited Oval Test, as no action was taken against Billy Doctrove. In response, Naseem Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, said "Mr Hair was removed from the ICC panel of umpires because of his bad umpiring and his poor judgement." On 9 October 2007, Hair dropped his discrimination case. The ICC said Hair would undergo a development programme over the next six months seemingly with the goal to place him back into top level matches. During this six month period he will continue to officiate in second tier ICC associate matches. The ICC restored Hair to the Elite Umpiring Panel on 12 March 2008. On 22 August 2008 Hair handed in his resignation to the ICC in order to take up a coaching role. He had been an international umpire for 16 years.