Cricket Blog - THE COMMENTARY BOX

Hair has always been a hard umpire. He has made decisions that other umpires would never dare to make. One such decision cost him his job.

But knowing his particular style of dealing with issues, this recent lawsuit against the ICC, protesting against his sacking, shouldn't come as any surprise. Hair is surely going to give this all he has and he clearly intends to drag the ICC, and thereby the game, through as much mire as possible.

His particularly sharp remarks on the alleged 'racial discrimination' issue provide ample indications as to how scandalous this could be.

"If I had been from West Indies or Pakistan or India, I might have been treated differently, like Doctrove.

"At the time we told Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, that we believed the marks we found on the ball were deliberately put there. After the match I was continually pilloried in the media by Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and Inzamam, which was clearly in breach of ICC conduct ... and yet it did nothing to prevent this.

"I asked Speed if it could possibly be performance related but he agreed that my performances since joining the elite panel had been generally very good and I had been continually ranked in the top three umpires. I was at a loss to understand how my career could possibly be effectively ended unless it was by a racially motivated and racially-discriminated process."

Whatever the outcome of the case, this lawsuit is easily one of the biggest cricket has seen so far.
And if Hair wins it, the ICC could probably have to shell out millions as compensation. Surely, that is motivation enough for ICC and Speed to defend with all their heart!!