Darrell Hair caught stealing cash from Liquor Shop

[quincywagstaff]

That while he was an international umpire he released a book which actually had him giving the no-ball signal suggested he didn’t mind the martyr label that many (certainly in the Oz media) wanted to put on him and cashing in on it. After all, would he have ever got a book deal had he not been involved in the Muralitharan controversy? He was hardly a character of the game otherwise.

 

[social]

It's actually pretty sad news

Hair was a member of the club that I grew up in and was a very decent guy

Last I heard (a few years ago), he was making a reasonable living on the speaking circuit so something has obviously changed since then

Hope that he gets the help he needs

 

[social]

BTW, let's not forget that the vast majority of the cricketing world thought that Murali was a filthy chucker for years

 

[cnerd123]

A bit taken aback by how many people are enjoying this.

The guy was an international umpire. You don't get into that position without a deep passion and knowledge of the game, willingness to work hard, and having good integrity. Sure some umpires hang on for too long, and some make bad decisions and stick with them, but that's just human nature. People in all walks of life do that. It happens. We've all been guilty of it too, just at a much smaller level. And maybe he did cash in on being the man who no-balled Murali, but could you blame him? Why not take the opportunity when it arises? Loads of people thought Murali chucked, someone was going to call him. It was necessary that it happened and Hair was the man brave enough to do it. If he made some cash off it, so what.

He seems to have developed a gambling addiction some time back, leading to his situation. That's not a joking matter. Lives have been ruined by that. Families torn apart. The fact that he didn't even deny that he was stealing when he was caught, and simply owed up to it all, shows he's still a man of some morals.

Hopefully he gets the help he needs and finds the strength to kick this habit and move on with his life.

 

[Shri]

Oh shut up. He'd have lied if there was no security camera.

 

[the big bambino]

Well said *****.

 

[Adders]

btw, let's not forget that the vast majority of australia thought that murali was a filthy chucker for years

ftfy.

 

[Burgey]

ftfy.

Nah, it was a commonly held view at the time. Hair’s legacy is the introduction of a decent testing regime for questionable actions. At the time he called Murali there wasn’t really a system in place. Same can’t be said for Emerson a few years later.

Hopefully Hair comes through all this and gets treatment for his addiction.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong by calling Murali imo. The action looked bad and needed testing. What he did ended up helping Murali's legacy a great deal. If it hadn't happened, there'd be even more questions today about Murali's action. Atleast because he was called, he was tested and subsequently cleared.

We also found out that all bowlers in history except Ramnaresh Sarwan were technically filthy chuckers, which will always be funny.

 

[Zinzan]

At least Winona Ryder was good looking.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong by calling Murali imo. The action looked bad and needed testing. What he did ended up helping Murali's legacy a great deal. If it hadn't happened, there'd be even more questions today about Murali's action. Atleast because he was called, he was tested and subsequently cleared.

With regards the rest of the world, yes. And there's no doubt it kicked off some research into the area, contextualised Murali's physical abnormalities, and resulted in the development of a process by which these things could be dealt with rather than one umpire having the power to end some bloke's career. Which is great news. Hair, though, personally held the view that Murali was still a chucker and threatened to keep calling him even under the new rules.That tarnishes his contribution, in my view.

Wish the man himself the best of luck, any Schadenfreude here is deeply inappropriate.

 

[Adders]

Nah, it was a commonly held view at the time.

Mate, the treatment of Murali in Aus during that tour was a ****ing disgrace.......and I don't recall him ever saying he would never tour any other country again.

 

[Burgey]

I’m not saying it wasnt, but if you think Australia was the only place where people thought he chucked, you’re very much mistaken.

Personally would have liked him to have bowled from both ends when he toured here.

 

[Zinzan]

Ranatunga probably bent over in a sidewalk chucking his gut out.

Yeah, but that was just a result of his double helping of butter chicken, followed by 5 donuts.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Must be pretty strapped in the first place to take a gig in an off licence (or Oz equivalent thereof). Can't imagine it pays much.

No suggestion he did anything illegal as a umpire (my lawyers have advised me to say, etc...), but an official with a gambling problem is a massive red flag. Especially for one who made some rather, ah, eye catching calls, whether one agreed with them or not.

 

[the big bambino]

There is no suggestion that his gambling was a problem during his umpiring career. It became a problem earlier this year.

 

[GotSpin]

Things must have gone down hill for him to be working in a bottleo

 

[Engle]

Did anyone notice the irony that Hair called Pakistan for ball tampering with no video evidence - yet got caught by video for stealing ?

 

[Stapel]

I like the irony in this thread. But not the Schadenfreude.

Strealing cash from your employer. Just to get your next bet in. That's just very sad

 

[G.I.Joe]

Yeah, but that was just a result of his double helping of butter chicken, followed by 5 donuts.

Look, all brown cultures are not the same. I will not stand for this broad brush stereotyping.

Ranatunga's Sri Lankan. They gorge on biscuits.