ICC confirms Hair restoral

18 March 2008

Darrell Hair last took charge of a Test match in August 2006

The door has been opened for Australian umpire Darrell Hair to return to officiating in top-level international cricket.

The 55-year-old has not taken charge of a match between high-profile countries since the forfeited Brit Oval Test in 2006 when he and Billy Doctrove penalised Pakistan for ball-tampering.

But during a two-day meeting of the International Cricket Council it was decided Hair had undergone a sufficiently lengthy period of rehabilitation away from the spotlight.

“The board have decided that he can be appointed to matches involving full member countries once more,” confirmed an ICC spokesman.

Although Hair never left the ICC’s elite panel of umpires, his duties were reduced to matches involving associate countries.

Hair brought a case of racial discrimination against his employers, the ICC, with whom he is contracted for a further 12 months, but dropped the allegations just seven days into a tribunal in London last October.

Pakistan asked the ICC to ensure Hair did not officiate in any of their future matches in August 2006 while the ICC said they had lost confidence in their official in November of that year.