Zaidi: Hair decision vindicates Pakistan

Leading figures in Pakistan have praised the ICC's decision to ban the umpire, Darrell Hair, from officiating any further in internationals. Percy Sonn, the ICC president, announced Hair's fate following a two-day ICC board meeting in Mumbai, following the debacle of the Oval Test between Pakistan and England in August in which Hair accused Pakistan of ball-tampering.

"I had already forgiven Hair," Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, told reporters. "It is [the] ICC's decision and I will not say much on it."

The former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director Abbas Zaidi said Hair's removal had vindicated Inzamam and the PCB. "Since we were involved in the standoff it vindicates whatever we believed and advocated. We thank the British media and all the Asian cricket boards, especially India, for the support in the Hair issue."

The former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad was equally pleased, saying the ICC "has set an example" while adding that "all other impires will be under pressure to take [the] right decisions. "The ICC has upheld the game's esteem and its own esteem," he said.

However Rashid Latif, another former Pakistan captain, was concerned the ICC have reacted too strongly. "Hair has suffered enough," he said, "so I thought he would be forgiven because Inzamam had forgiven him. I think Hair had stigmatised his reputation by demanding compensation and it spoiled his case," Latif added, referring to Hair's leaked email to an ICC official demanding $500,000 dollars for an early retirement.