Hair's offer and ICC disclosure bad for cricket: Miandad by AFP

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Event:

Pakistan in British Isles 2006

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DateLine: 26th August 2006

 

Pakistani cricketing great Javed Miandad said Saturday umpire Darrell Hair's offer to resign in return for 500,000 dollars, and its disclosure by the International Cricket Council, had set a bad precedent.

 

He said the latest developments in the controversy surrounding Hair had strengthened Pakistan's case regarding allegations of ball-tampering that the umpire made last week against captain Inzaman-ul-Haq.

 

"The truth must come out," Miandad told AFP.

 

"Both the ICC and Hair have set a bad precedent for cricket."

 

The ICC should not have made public Hair's letter containing the offer, the former Pakistan skipper said, adding that by doing so the cricket governing body had shown itself to be weak and incapable of resolving the crisis itself.

 

The letter was between the ICC and Hair, Minadad said, adding: "Hair also made his position more controversial.

 

"Why (has) Hair made this offer in return for money," said Miandad.

 

Hair, an Australian, was one of two umpires officiating in the England v Pakistan Test who awarded the home side five penalty runs because they believed the tourists had tampered with the ball.

 

Pakistan have threatened to boycott the remainder of their tour if Inzamam-ul-Haq is banned following Pakistan's forfeiture of the fourth and final Test against England at The Oval on Sunday.

 

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "Hair was under great stress when he wrote the letter.

 

"Darrell had no dishonest, underhand or malicious intent. He was seeking a solution that was in the interests of the game."

 

Miandad said it would be unjust to Pakistan if the ICC accepted Hair's resignation or retired him without an open investigation into the incident.

 

"Umpires cannot be allowed to do this, otherwise every second umpire after (this) controversy would do the same," he said.

 

Javed Miandad scored 8,832 runs in 124 test matches with an average of 52.57. He had also played 233 ODIs and scored 7381 runs.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)