A hair-raising drama and a crisis

The current fuss is just another in a long line of controversies that had no lasting ill-effects on the game of cricket, writes Jon Henderson in the Observer.

One of the main reasons cricket is so wonderful is its crowded cast of crackpot characters and rich history of skulduggery, the latter being an inevitable consequence of the dopey old game's beautifully intricate construction.

The Dawn's Kamran Abbasi minces no words in his column:

Hair has completely crippled his case. Not just the trumped up ball-tampering charge against Pakistan which only seemed to rest on Hair's ‘honourable’ interpretation of the condition of the ball — his honour is now dust — but also Inzamam's disrepute charge which any reasonable lawyer should be able to argue was a consequence of Hair's unwillingness to communicate fairly with the Pakistan captain.

Mike Atherton is surprised at how a small drama has turned into such a big crisis.

In time, people will look back in amazement at how one little pimple was allowed to grow and fester into a boil that finally burst at Friday's press conference, spreading puss all over the game.

Vic Marks wonders how Darrell Hair can possibly continue to officiate at the highest level of the game following his request for a secret pay-off.

The current laws governing action over suspected ball-tampering need to be redrawn to avoid the shambles that was the end of The Oval test match, argues Will Buckley.

"Whatever happens it is unlikely that Hair, 53, will stand in another international match. His relationships with Pakistan and Sri Lanka were already shot, and now he has shot himself in the foot," says an editorial in The Age.

Graham Halbish, the former Australian cricket chief, believes Hair's emails should not deter the ICC from thoroughly investigating the ball-tampering claims against Pakistan.

There's an Indian view as well. Writing in the Hindustan Times, Pradeep Magazine says Hair, who most in the sub-continent believe is prejudiced, has given them reasons to smile.

And, according to Chloe Saltau, Inzamam-ul-Haq was never a big hit among Australians.

One of his old adversaries, bowler Damien Fleming, believes there is hardly an Australian player who could say he knows Inzamam. He remembers dismissing him in a World Cup game at Headingley. "He was sort of looking for a bit of love. I yorked him, hit him on the toe, he ran, and then when he was about to get run out, he started limping. It was almost like, 'You guys shouldn't get me out because I'm hurt'," Fleming recalled. "Inzy is one of the better batsmen I ever bowled to, but as for his personality and emotions, I wouldn't have a clue."

Nirupama Subramanian, of The Hindu, tracks the Pakistani newspapers' strong reactions to Darrell Hair.