The gentleman's game under scrutiny

The events in world cricket this past week have been bizarre to say the least. The game has been known to be a gentleman's game, with rules being followed scrupulously, the game generally played in good spirit and intense rivalry between nations on the field is matched with almost equal camaraderie and bonhomie off the pitch, which is always gratifying. No wonder, during the Cold War, an Australian MP said: "it is a pity US and USSR dont play cricket- if they did, there would be no need for summit talks." From those lofty standards of ethics, neutrality and friendship, the game has sunk into depths of despair, intrigue and acrimony thanks to obstinacy of one single man- Darrell Hair.

This umpire, of Australian origin, currently living in England, has been time and again accused of bad decisions, and worse, bas decisions based on race- typically tends to rule against the teams from the Indian sub-continent. This has gone on for at least ten decades with the game's governing body not willing to listen to any of the complaints. Matters came to a head when, last Sunday, in an England- Pakistan game where Pakistan clearly had the upper hand for the first time in the series, ruled that the Pakistani bowlered had illegally tampered with the ball and awarded penalty runs to England. Mind you, this was the fourth test, Pakistan had comprehensively been outplayed in the first three, and the ball apparently has not been tampered. This time, in the second innings that too, with Pakistan closing in on victory, Darrell Hair played his 'racist' card under the cloak of neutral umpiring. The pakistani team walked off in utter disgust, the crowd was perplexed, Pakistan eventually returned but Darrell Hair refused to umpire and then, in a bizarre twist, awarded the game to England- the first time in the history of 129 years of international cricket that such an event has ever happened.

Even as the game's governing body, ICC, sought to punish Pakistan for walking off the field, a letter was leaked to the press that revealed that given his incredibly bad record in the past and his credibility under serious doubt, Hair was willing to step off the umpiring panel as long as the ICC paid him half a million dollars to compensate for his potential earnings in the future. The umpire is not just racist, it turns out he is also a mercenary. How a man of such questionable integrity can ever umpire a gentleman's game beats me.

What the ICC needs to do is quickly address the issue- remove Hair from the international umpiring panel, fine Pakistan a small sum for leaving the field and ensure that the future umpires are chosen with integrity and care. This absolutely disgusting incident soils the reputation of one of the finest, and fairest games in the world. People like Hair are a blot on the game and the sooner they are removed from the cricketing, the better it will be for all of us- cricket followers around the world deserve integrity and transparency around officiating, not to be at the mercy of a racist, prejudiced mercenary, who is clearly a relic of the colonial past.

God save the game- and quick!