Hair he goes again

Darrell Hair is at it again. Creating a fuss, drawing attention to himself, and generally displaying the indignation of the most righteous man in the world of cricket. But self-righteous is the word that best describes Mr Hair, because the majority of people do not share his view of how we was treated.

Anybody who was involved with events at The Oval knows that Mr Hair was the man responsible for the ball-tampering verdict against Pakistan, Mr Hair was the man who stopped the match from being resumed despite requests from cricket boards and the ICC, and it was Mr Hair who was the senior umpire taking responsibility for the decision-making.

Indeed Mr Hair has upset the Pakistan team with his arrogant manner prior to The Oval, as well as angering India and Sri Lanka. For Mr Hair to now claim that he was the victim of racism is a further affront to the people he has already offended.

Perhaps I should sue Mr Hair for racism? At the press conference following last year's ball-tampering hearing he refused to answer a question I put to him but answered the same question when asked by a white journalist. Frankly, Mr Hair's obnoxious attitude towards me didn't bother me in the slightest, by contrast it was highly revealing. Indeeed, several senior journalists came up to me afterwards to make this very point.

There comes a time when you should draw a line under events, accept where you went wrong, and move on. It's too simplistic to say that Mr Hair had a good record for getting umpiring decisions right. That becomes meaningless when you have a track record of handling major issues badly.

Mr Hair deserved the judgement he received from the ICC, and I'm sure I'm not alone in growing tired of his self-righteousness.