Hair engages leading lawyer

Darrell Hair has hired a leading lawyer from the Marylebone Cricket Club in an effort to restart his international career, according to The Australian. The paper reported that Hair, who was sacked from the ICC's elite umpiring panel earlier this month, was "in delicate negotiations with the ICC".

"I am still trying to work a few things out," Hair said. "I can only say that I am extremely disappointed at the decision made by the ICC to remove me from the elite panel of umpires.

"I am considering my position and you will therefore appreciate that at this stage it would not be appropriate for me to comment further except to express my gratitude to all those who continue to show support for me."

His brother Denis told The Australian Hair had received offers to continue his first-class career in Australia's state cricket and England's county cricket. "He won't be satisfied unless he can gain reinstatement to the panel," Denis Hair said.

"It has been a very harrowing time for him considering all he was doing was his job. We as a family are upset and distressed by the accusations which have been made against him when all he was doing was upholding the laws of the game. His reward has been accusations of racism."

Denis Hair said suggestions his brother was racist were hard to accept given the pair had attended a school in New South Wales with students of many different nationalities. "We all played happily together," he said. "Anyone who knows Darrell would understand that this is not the way he looks at the world."