The Umpire Comes Back

One rather sanguine figure, I felt, that stood in the midst of the see-saw Second Test Match between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford (which England triumphantly won by 6 wickets) today was Australian-born umpire Darrell Hair, whose decision two years ago to penalise Pakistan 5 runs for alleged ball tampering led to a Test Match being forfeited - and awarded to England.

Pakistan were only cleared of ball tampering (because there was no definite evidence) after subsequent ICC enquiries and legal proceedings. Once having caved in on that score, the Pakistan Cricket Board even went to the further extent of wanting the match forfeiture to be overturned, when they had willfully refused to play. At the very least they wanted Darrell Hair to no longer umpire international matches. Now however, and perhaps thankfully, he is back again, officiating with the rather more convivial English and New Zealand teams to deal with.

I noticed however a definite caution in most of Mr. Hair's decisions during this latest Test - a fear of sticking his neck out and causing trouble, I would think. That, coupled with his significantly older appearance only 2 years after the furore at The Oval in 2006.
Anyway, at least a little bit of sanity has prevailed once again with his reinstatement, rather than the blithe disregard of officials just because teams or players are upset with them, especially when the umpires are only following the letter of the law.

(See also The Times Online)