Cricket's top officials called for umpires to be stripped of the power to end
a match prematurely, as the sport seeks to avoid a repeat of the turmoil sparked
by Australian official Darrell Hair last year.
In an August Test match in London, Hair accused the Pakistan
team of cheating by tampering with the ball and awarded the Test match to England
after the Pakistanis refused to re-enter the field in protest. It later transpired
that match referee Mike Procter tried and failed to persuade Hair to
restart the match.
After a two-day meeting, the chief executives of all the major cricket-playing
nations today recommended that match referees like Procter, who assess proceedings
from the sidelines, should have the final say on the termination of a match.
The International Cricket Council's board will consider the recommendation in
March, the body said in an e-mailed statement.
Hair's decision to impose the first forfeiture in 129 years of Test cricket
prompted weeks of diplomatic wrangling between England and Pakistan. The Pakistan
Cricket Board refused to play in matches umpired by Hair and threatened to quit
the tour.
Hounded by journalists and seeing pictures of his effigy being burnt in Pakistan,
Hair offered to quit in exchange for a secret payment of $500,000. In November,
the ICC said it had ``lost confidence'' in the Australian and dropped him from
its elite panel of umpires.
Separately, the ICC resolved to monitor its members' anti- doping programs
more vigorously after two Pakistan fast bowlers were found guilty of taking
steroids and their bans were overturned on appeal.
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