Darrell Bruce Hair (born 30 September 1952) is an Australian former
Test match cricket umpire, from
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
He stood on the International panel of umpires from 2002 to 2003, before he, along with fellow Australian
Simon Taufel
Simon James Arthur Taufel (born 21 January 1971) is a former Australian cricket umpire who was earlier a member of the ICC Elite umpire panel. He won five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards between 2004 and 2008, and was generally cons ...
, and New Zealander
Billy Bowden
Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is a cricket umpire from New Zealand. He was a player until he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. He is well known for his dramatic signaling style which includes the famous "crooked finge ...
, was appointed to the
ICC Elite umpire panel
The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC dec ...
. After an ICC board meeting discussed his actions in a Test match between
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 2006 it was decided he should not umpire matches involving the Test playing nations. He was restored to the Elite Panel by the ICC on 12 March 2008 and stood in the England v New Zealand Tests at Old Trafford in May and Trent Bridge in June 2008.
Career
Hair umpired his first Test match in January 1992, between
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. In 1994 the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
(ICC) introduced a policy of appointing one umpire to each Test match from a non-participating country, and since 2002 both umpires have been appointed from non-participating nations. Since 2002, the majority of Hair's Test matches have been played outside Australia, and did not involve Australia. His last Test match involving Australia was against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
at
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 26 to 29 December 2001. Hair's colleague was West Indian umpire
Eddie Nicholls
Edward Albert Nicholls (born 10 December 1947 in British Guiana) is a former international Test and One Day International cricket umpire. Nicholls officiated in 17 Tests from 1997 to 2001 and 46 ODIs from 1995 to 2005. He was one of four West I ...
.
At the local level, Hair began his career playing in Orange and Molong and moved to Sydney in 1972 where he played with the
Mosman
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
and North Sydney clubs in the
Sydney Grade Cricket
NSW Premier Cricket (formerly known as Sydney Grade Cricket) is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs that had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis voted to create a forma ...
competition, as a right-arm fast-medium bowler.
In a 1995 match between Australia and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in Melbourne, he
no-ball
In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially ...
ed
Muttiah Muralitharan
Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...
seven times in three overs for
throwing
Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile ...
. It was the first time Muralitharan had been called in 22 Tests, although the ICC later said that umpires had expressed doubts about his legitimacy for more than two years. In Tests, Muralitharan was found to exceed the then 5 degree limit for spin bowlers, but his unusual action was found to be partially the result of a congenital elbow deformity and after further review, the ICC raised the elbow extension limit to 15 degrees for all bowlers. In 1999 Hair was found guilty by the ICC of bringing the game into disrepute after he described Muralitharan's action as "diabolical".
Hair later received death threats that referenced the throwing incident and as a result the ICC decreed that he would not officiate any of Sri Lanka's matches at the 1999 World Cup.
2006 ball tampering incident
On the fourth day of the fourth Test between
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
at
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
, Hair and fellow umpire
Billy Doctrove
Billy Raymond Doctrove (born 3 July 1955) is a Dominica former international football referee, but is best known as an international cricket umpire.
Career as a FIFA referee
During his time as a referee Doctrove took charge of several internat ...
ruled that the Pakistani team had been involved in
ball tampering. They awarded five
penalty runs
In cricket, a penalty run is a type of extra. It is a run awarded to one team for various breaches of the Laws by the other team, generally related to unfair play or player conduct. Many of these penalties have been added since 2000. Penalties a ...
to England and offered them a replacement ball. In protest the Pakistani players refused to take the field after the tea break. After 30 minutes the umpires removed the bails, declared England winners by forfeiture. The Pakistani team took the field 25 minutes later, but the umpires stated that the game had ended the moment the bails were removed. The Test was abandoned and the match awarded to England.
The
ICC,
ECB and
PCB
PCB may refer to:
Science and technology
* Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant
* Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics
* ...
later affirmed that the decision to award the match to England was in accordance with the
Laws of Cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
. Inzamam was acquitted of ball tampering,
although opinion remained divided as to whether the markings on the ball indicated tampering.
After the ensuing controversy Hair wrote an e-mail to the ICC saying that he would resign from the ICC Elite Umpire Panel in return for a non-negotiable one-off payment of US$500,000 directly into his bank account to cover loss of future earnings. Hair subsequently revoked the offer said that he never considered retirement. The ICC announced that Hair would not be umpiring at the
2006 ICC Champions Trophy due to security concerns and on 4 November 2006, Hair was banned from officiating in international matches by the
ICC following a two-day meeting.
A leaked ICC report showed that before the Oval incident, Hair was ranked the second-best umpire overall and number one in decision-making.
In February 2007 Hair announced he was suing the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board on grounds of racial discrimination, saying he was made a scapegoat as no action was taken against Billy Doctrove. On 9 October 2007, Hair dropped his discrimination case. The ICC said Hair would undergo a development programme over the next six months seemingly with the goal to place him back into top level matches. During this six-month period he continued to officiate in second tier ICC associate matches. The ICC restored Hair to the Elite Umpiring Panel on 12 March 2008. On 22 August 2008 Hair handed in his resignation to the ICC in order to take up a coaching role. He had been an international umpire for 16 years.
Legal issues
On 23 October 2017, Hair pleaded guilty to one charge of embezzlement and one charge of stealing in the Orange Local Court. The offences were committed as a result of a gambling addiction, with Hair stealing a total of $9005.75 (AUD). Given his early guilty plea, in addition to the fact that he had repaid the stolen money, Hair was sentenced to an 18-month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded.
International umpiring statistics
See also
*
List of Test cricket umpires
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
*
List of One Day International cricket umpires
This is a list of cricket umpires who have officiated at least one men's One Day International (ODI) match. As of October 2022, 418 umpires have officiated in an ODI match. The first ODI match took place on 5 January 1971 between Australia and ...
*
List of Twenty20 International cricket umpires
References
Bibliography
* Hair, Darrell (1998) ''Decision Maker: An Umpire's Story'' Random House, Australia.
* Hair, Darrell (2011) ''In The Best Interests Of The Game'' Harper Sports. ISBN 9780732292881
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hair, Darrell
1952 births
Living people
Australian One Day International cricket umpires
Australian Test cricket umpires
Australian Twenty20 International cricket umpires
People from Mudgee