Australian umpires attack Speed and ICC
Cricinfo staff
November 17, 2006
The New South Wales Umpires and Scorers Association (NSWCUSA) will today print an advertisement in Sydney's Daily Telegraph in support of Darrell Hair, the sacked umpire who accused Pakistan of ball tampering during the Oval Test against England in August.
The full-page advert is expected to appear in Saturday's edition, and in copies throughout the week, as a written attack against the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed. The final line of the statement reads: "You and your ICC should all be ashamed of how this has played out".
Opinions of Hair and his sacking remain divided. His dismissal on November 4 was praised by leading figures in Asia - particularly, and perhaps understandably so, in Pakistan - while others, including Australia's Ricky Ponting, were disappointed. To confuse matters further, a leaked report from the ICC revealed Hair was ranked the second best umpire in the world mere days before the Oval Test. This week, he was also voted Umpire of the Year by readers in the December edition of The Wisden Cricketer.
In an email obtained by Cricinfo, NSWCUSA said "It probably won't have much effect, but at least we have a cricketing organisation that is prepared to publicly speak out against the politics affecting international cricket."
This week, Peter Hughes, NSWCUSA's executive officer, threatened to boycott sponsors of the ICC in a written letter to Malcolm Speed. "Neither prospect bodes well for the future of international cricket," Hughes wrote, accusing the ICC of bias towards the powerful members of the Asian Cricket Council.
An ICC spokesman declined to comment.
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