Hair “cash-for-quit” shock

In a shock announcement, the ICC’s Chief Executive Malcolm Speed has revealed that Darrell Hair, the umpire caught in the middle of the Pakistan ball-tampering row, offered to resign from umpiring in exchange for a payment of US$500,000.

The offer was made on Tuesday of this week, when Hair sent the ICC’s umpire manager Doug Cowie an email laying out his proposition. The proposition was not immediately refused by Cowie, but once Malcolm Speed received wind of it, he deemed it “entirely inappropriate”.

Full transcripts of the emails have been released, and it appears that there was no malicious or underhanded intent in Hair’s offer – a conclusion that was backed up by Speed in a press conference today.

“I am confident, as is David Richardson (the ICC’s general manager), who has been intimately involved in these matters, that Darrell had no dishonest, underhand or malicious intent. He was seeking to find a solution that was in the interests of the game.” said Speed.

Hair’s email asked for “a one-off payment to compensate for the loss of future earnings and retainer payments over the next four years, which I believe would have been the best years I have to offer ICC and world umpiring.”

He stated that he was willing to give up his position as an ICC umpire as of August 31, provided US$500,000 found their way into his bank account by that date. It also implied that Hair wished to keep his offer a secret, with a request that the ICC announce his retirement as a “lifestyle decision”.

The ICC has yet to take any action against Hair, but will meet next week to decide on any potential punishment. It is already being rumoured that Hair will be sacked from his role as an international umpire – and there will certainly be no ‘Golden Goodbye’.