Hair calls on ICC officials to quit

Darrell Hair, the former international umpire at the centre of the furore surrounding the 2006 Oval Test, has called on all the ICC board members involved in the original decision to change the result of the match to resign. Last weekend the ICC executive voted to overturn its ruling altering the result of the game from an England win to a draw.

"All the board members who were involved in the earlier decision should resign now," Hair said. "And this should also include the present ICC president David Morgan. The first to go should be David Richardson [ the ICC's general manager - cricket) and Doug Cowie [the ICC's manager for umpires].

"I felt the gun was loaded by the ICC board, and Richardson and [the chief executive] Malcolm Speed were only too happy to pull the trigger."

In the immediate aftermath of the match it emerged that Hair had offered to stand down in return for a pay-off for the remainder of his contract. He was subsequently suspended by the ICC but eventually returned to umpiring. He stepped down from the ICC elite panel of umpires last year to become CEO of the New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association.

"They tried to destroy my life," he told the Daily Telegraph. "After the ICC made the decision several ICC officials set out to make a real meal of it and make life very tough for me. People like myself pay for standing up for what is right. There was a lot of support for me from around the world but unfortunately none of the people who worked at the ICC were among them. I am dirty on the fact that none of the people who worked there backed me up."

But Hair added that he wanted to move on. "I want to forget the past now. I am happily living in Sydney."