Inzy should be cleared says Bird

Former England umpire Dickie Bird has commented on the Pakistan ball-tampering saga saying captain Inzamam-ul-Haq should be cleared.

“It is looking like the charges are going to be dropped,” said Bird.”

“It is looking in favour of Pakistan now and it is my regret that it ever came to this in the first place.”

“Everybody should have used a little bit of common sense, tried to finish the Test match then thrashed it out behind closed doors.”

“The public had paid a lot of money to watch a cricket match and they did not get it, so they might think twice about going back to cricket in the future.”

Bird’s comments come following the request from Darrell Hair for $500,000 to retire from international umpiring.

Dickie Bird is widely regarded as the best umpire of all time and officiated in 66 Tests and 69 one-day internationals in his 23 year umpiring career from 1973 to 1996.