Hair to stand in Sharjah

Darrell Hair will stand in his first official match since his employment tribunal against the ICC ended when he umpires the UAE-Kenya Intercontinental Cup match in Sharjah, starting on January 18.

Hair withdrew his claim for racial discrimination against the ICC - in relation to The Oval Test forfeiture involving England and Pakistan in August 2006 - during early October, shortly after the trial entered its second week in London.

At the time Malcolm Speed said Hair's immediate future would revolve around the lower-level matches, before a decision would be taken on his long-term future. "For the next six months he will umpire matches at Associate level. I can't speculate as to whether he will return to umpiring Full-Member matches or not," said Speed.

Following the four-day match in Sharjah, Hair will stand in a one-day international, at the same venue, between UAE and Kenya before another Intercontinental Cup match involving UAE and Namibia, again at Sharjah, starting on January 23.