Darrell Hair Names Harbhajan Singh, Shoaib Akhatr for Suspect Action; Bowlers Laugh It Off

It seems rather sensational in itself that Hair’s naming of bowlers with suspect action are all Asian bowlers barring Johan Botha. Does it have anything to do with wanting to sell his book ‘In the Best Interest of the Game’ or is this an attack on the ICC?

Hair had become infamous over calling Muttiah Muralitharan several times for chucking during Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia. Muralitharan being hauled up for throwing really brought matters to a head on that tour of 1995 and it would appear that although Hair is no longer involved in the game in the capacity of an umpire, he is certainly asserting his voice, freely taking jibes on how he sees the present state of affairs within the game.

Darrell Hair has mentioned the likes of India’s Harbhajan Singh, and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Hafeez amongst others as those he suspected of having suspect action when it comes to bowling. Hair is careful to only mention Johan Botha from those outside the sub continent that have not met his standards of satisfaction.

However, while the players themselves are not taking Hair’s allegations too seriously believing this is just another case of creating controversy and publicity to sell his book, there are also serious allegations leveled at the sport’s governing body, the ICC under whose aegis Hair was an elite umpire before he and the ICC parted ways over the forfeited Test between Pakistan and England at the Oval over ball tampering charges leveled against the Pakistan cricketers. The acrimony thereafter has been palpable.

Hair contends that it is the ICC that has allowed the malice to spread by not checking the spread of the international cricket being inundated with bowlers whose bowling action did not meet the standards set by the book and rule of cricket. Hair feels that the umpires are incapable of reporting instances where they feel that a particular bowler is not up to the mark, thereby suggesting that the umpires’ hands are tied by the influence, power and clout in the Indian sub continent. That the ICC has been dragged into this controversy as the one perpetrating this malice to spread is something the ICC will need to consider because their authority has often been compromised on several issues that have affected the sport. Given the number of names that Hair has named, it would either suggest that Hair has a specific bias or that his insinuation that the ICC is toothless to stem the rot holds some ground. That Hair is bringing the ICC Cricket World Cup as a place where the suspect action was more on witness is taking on the ICC, if one were to look at it that way, in an event that has been largely successful to suggest that the sub continent may be the reason why the ICC is not pushing for stringent action, that is, if the ICC deems it as necessary.

Either way Hair continues to stay in the headlines, much after his umpiring days have been shortened and it would seem that the trend of writing autobiographies with a dash of spice helps sells books better, what cannot be taken lightly is the fact that a former umpire is making some serious allegations not only at the players but at the boards and the governing body itself for diluting the standards of the sport.

Hair though has had a grouse with the ICC, particularly since the incident at the Oval where he feels that the Pakistan cricket board was being mollycoddled by the ICC. It would seem that those perceptions are likely to remain as they are, particularly when it comes to putting book on shelves in book stores.As for bowlers with suspect action, if the ICC has been able to clear them, they owe no explanation really to anyone who points a finger at them which is the way it works in cricket.