ICC bows to Lankan demand, prevents Hair from officiating

ICC bows to Lankan demand, prevents Hair from officiating
Press Trust of India

Nairobi, October 5: Australian umpire Darrell Hair has been dropped from officiating in the quarter-final match of the ICC Knock-out Cup cricket tournament between Sri Lanka and Pakistan following an official protest by the Islanders.

Sri Lankan Cricket Board finally had their way on Hair's appointment for Sunday's tie as International Cricket Council (ICC) stepped in to sort out the issue.

Reacting to the written protest by the Sri Lankan Board, ICC declared that Hair would not stand in any match involving Sri Lanka.

Hair has a long-standing battle with the Sri Lankans the genesis of which was the 1995 tour when he called Muttaih Muralitharan for throwing. He then wrote in his book that if given a chance, he would call him again.

Only in August, Hair called Grant Flower for throwing in a Test against New Zealand in Zimbabwe.

Sri Lankan Board President Thilanga Sumathipala said he is happy with the decision.

``The National team can now concentrate on planning out their strategy for the rest of the tournament and go ahead and win it,'' said Sumathipala. Team manager Neil Perera was also `jubilant'

Sri Lanka, ranked second to World Cup champions Australia in the current One-Day international standings, came up with a thoroughly efficient performance here on Wednesday trouncing West Indies by 108 runs to enter the quarter-finals of the competition.

Off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan the central figure in the umpiring controversy, came off with remarkable bowling figures of 10-4-9-0 with Hair officiating as third umpire. Though the Lankans have had their say for now, they plan to carry on with their fight against Hair by pursuing the issue at the executive board meeting of ICC to ensure that Hair does not officiate anymore.