ICC, Hair setting bad precedent, says Miandad

Lahore, Aug 27 (UNI) Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad feels while Darrell Hair has set a bad precedent by offering to resign from the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires in lieu of money, the governing body itself has not done any good to the game by making the Aussie's demand public.

''The truth must come out,'' Miandad was quoted by 'The News' as saying.

''Both the ICC and Hair have set a bad precedent for cricket,'' he added, lamenting that the whole ball-tampering controversy and the way it is being handled has damaged the reputation of the game.

Miandad said while Hair needs to explain why he made a demand of 5,00,000 dollar for qutting umpiring, the ICC would have done well to keep the e-mail to itself instead of going public with it. He said the governing body has proven itself to be a weak organisation by making the issue public.

The former captain and coach felt Hair has now opened the doors for other umpires to make similar demands in future.

''Hair also made his position more controversial. Why (has) Hair made this offer in return for money,'' said Miandad.

''Umpires cannot be allowed to do this, otherwise every second umpire after (this) controversy would do the same,'' he said, calling on the ICC not to allow Hair to retire without facing an inquiry.

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