Pakistan calls for inquiry over umpire Hair's conduct by AFP

---

Ground:	Kennington Oval, Kennington
Scorecard:	England v Pakistan
Player:	DB Hair, Inzamam-ul-Haq
Event:	Pakistan in British Isles 2006

---

DateLine: 1st November 2006

 

Pakistan has lodged a complaint against umpire Darrell Hair for his role in the forfeited Oval Test in August and has demanded an inquiry into his conduct, an official said Tuesday.

 

"The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has lodged an official complaint against Hair and we have taken the stance that the Australian umpire was to blame for the Oval Test standoff and other related losses," board spokesman Bilal Amir told AFP.

 

The PCB also asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to include the matter in its Executive Board meeting in Mumbai on November 3, the spokesman said.

 

Hair, officiating the Fourth Test against England alongside West Indian Billy Doctrove, charged Pakistan with ball tampering and awarded England five runs.

 

Angry Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to lead his team back on to the field after tea. Inzamam's move prompted the umpires to award the match to England -- the first forfeit in Test cricket's 129-year history.

 

Inzamam was later cleared of tampering charges by an ICC inquiry, but was banned from four one-day internationals for bringing the game into disrepute.

 

Hair, from Australia, faced further controversy when a leaked email to an ICC official revealed that he had demanded 500,000 US dollars to quit.

 

He was not appointed for the ICC Champions Trophy in India.

 

However the ICC maintained Hair had a future as an international umpire and was among the world's best match officials.

 

PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf was summoned by a standing committee of Pakistan's upper house of parliament, the Senate, on Monday to give them details about the Oval Test.

 

"He told the committee about Pakistan's complaint against Hair and assured them that Pakistan has taken the matter seriously and would pursue it, as we feel Hair was the villain of the Oval Test fiasco," the spokesman said.

 

Pakistan have demanded that the ICC should not appoint Hair for any of their future matches.

 

The PCB has also officially rejected Oval compensation claims from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and wants the ICC to resolve the matter through its dispute committee.

 

The ECB had demanded 800,000 pounds in compensation for repayments for tickets for the fourth and fifth days.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)