February 25, 2007


Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire at the heart of the Oval controvery last year, has decided not to take legal action against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for racial discrimination.

"I have been told by our lawyer Mark Gay that Hair has withdrawn the case," Dr Naseem Ashraf, the PCB chairman, was quoted as saying in the Saudi Gazette.


Hair was sacked as an Elite Panel umpire by the ICC for his role in the forfeited Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval last year, during which he accused Pakistan of ball tampering. He was reinstated as an umpire for the World Cricket League in Kenya earlier this month and stole some of the spotlight when it emerged that he was considering legal action against the PCB for their alleged role in his sacking.
Ashraf said that the PCB was confident they had a valid case against Hair as it was always a matter to be resolved between Hair and his employers, the ICC . "Hair knew well that he had no case against us, what he has done is there for everyone to see. If any party had a case, it was Pakistan."
However, the issue isn't closed yet as far as the ICC is concerned as it was learnt that Hair would continue to pursue the simultaneous lawsuit he filed against them.


© Cricinfo
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Hair ends racial case against PCB

Umpire Darrell Hair has withdrawn his legal claim of racial discrimination against the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The Australian official, who has been replaced on the International Cricket Council's Elite Panel, began action against both the PCB and the ICC.

A PCB official confirmed Hair was not now taking action and said: "We are not surprised he has dropped his outrageous allegation of racism against us."

Hair is still thought to be pursuing the ICC for wrongful dismissal.

Hair was barred from officiating Test matches after the forfeited Oval Test between England and Pakistan in August 2006.

Pakistan stopped playing after Hair had awarded five runs to England, believing the fielding side had been guilty of ball-tampering.

A subsequent ICC investigation ruled the ball had not been illegally altered and Hair was taken off the Test rota.

However Billy Doctrove, a black West Indian and Hair's fellow umpire at The Oval, has continued his elite role.


Our client would not have been treated in this way if he had not been a white umpire

Original complaint from Hair's lawyers

Hair initially believed the PCB had "unlawfully induced" the ICC to engage in discriminatory acts when it lobbied for his ban.

Having been dropped from the panel covering the top international matches, Hair's most recent assignment was the World Cricket League final between Kenya and Scotland in Nairobi in January.

He is still under contract with the ICC until March 2008, but will not be officiating at the forthcoming World Cup in the Caribbean.

The 54-year-old, who now resides in England, rejected the chance to join the England and Wales Cricket Board's umpiring reserve list, which could have seen him officiate in first-class matches.

Earlier this month, his solicitors issued a statement on his behalf, which said: "It is our view, and that of our client, that he has been treated in an unacceptable and appalling manner.

"The reality in this case is that our client would not have been treated in this way if he had not been a white umpire."

Source - BBC Sport