ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed insisted Pakistan would have no right of veto over the appointment of Darrell Hair.
LONDON: International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed insisted Pakistan would have no right of veto over the appointment of Darrell Hair after the umpire ruled they had forfeited last week’s fourth Test against England here at The Oval.
After previous run-ins with the Australian official, Pakistan made it clear they no longer wanted Hair involved in their matches. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said his country was not “dictating” to the ICC in respect of Hair.
“Our team has a problem with his attitude on the field, that attitude has upset our team more than once, and if the ICC is sensitive to boards it will take due cognisance of what we have said,” the PCB chief said.
But Speed, who said on Tuesday he’d received a letter from Shaharyar, stressed that there would be no change in the appointment procedure.
He also backed the stance taken by fellow Australian Hair and Doctrove. “It is hugely regrettable that the match did not end with a great finish in front of a full house,” Speed said.
“That is something that would have acted as an appropriate conclusion to a series full of exciting and absorbing cricket (the forfeit gave England the four-match encounter 3-0). However it is not the role of the ICC to overturn the decisions of on-field umpires, the people who are enshrined in the Laws of Cricket as the sole judges of fair and unfair play, the ultimate arbiters of the game. In this instance, the decision made by Billy Doctrove and Darrell Hair to award the match to England was the correct one under the Laws.”
Speed then said there would be no change in the way Hair, or anyone else, was chosen to umpire a major match.
“It remains the role of the ICC and not our members to appoint umpires to Tests and one-day internationals. The choices are made by the ICC’s chief executive together with the chairman of the cricket committee, Sunil Gavaskar following recommendations from the ICC’s cricket department. The appointments are made without fear or favour and are based on the performances of the umpires in international matches.”
Shaharyar said the umpires’ actions had ramifications far beyond The Oval’s boundaries.
“In these days of tension outside the cricket ground, what a wonderful sight it is to see cricket between a Muslim country (Pakistan) and England, where the majority are Christians, with both sides being cheered, both sides being really appreciated. This is the spirit of cricket. Cricket offers a bridge of peace, why destroy this bridge over a technicality?”
England and Pakistan are due to play a Twenty20 international in Bristol on Monday with the one-day series proper starting in Cardiff a week Wednesday.
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