Pakistan insists Hair unfit for umpiring

CRICKET: LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 13 - Pakistan's cricket chief said Friday that Darrell Hair was still unfit to umpire at international level, as the Australian seeks to revive his career.

Hair on Tuesday dropped a racial discrimination claim against the International Cricket Council (ICC) in a move he hopes will lead to his reappointment as a Test match umpire next year.

Hair took the ICC to the tribunal after being barred from officiating in Test matches following last year's controversial England-Pakistan match at The Oval.

"At the moment the PCB's position is that Hair is unfit to officiate in the elite panel and it's up to the ICC to revisit the stance on him," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf told reporters.

Ashraf said that talk of Hair winning back his place on the ICC's elite panel of umpires was the "optimism of speculation."

"We do not have any dispute with Hair and there is no personal thing but on our judgement he failed at The Oval," said Ashraf.

The Oval Test became the first in history to be won by forfeit after Pakistan refused to resume playing after being penalised for ball-tampering by Hair and his West Indian fellow umpire Billy Doctrove.

Ashraf had flown to London to give evidence in Hair's discrimination case but half-an-hour before his statement was due, the Australian withdrew the case.

But the PCB chairman said he hoped that the ICC's rehabilitation process would "improve his behaviour and this is a positive step."

"It will be up to the ICC Board to decide about his comeback and it's up to them to consider if and whether Hair may be considered for the elite panel," Ashraf added.

Pakistan lodged a complaint against Hair after the Oval incident and the ICC Board in its meeting in November last year expelled the umpire from the elite panel.

- AFP