Asian council sees no split over Hair exit

KARACHI, Nov 27 (Reuters) The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) does not see any split in the world game after the removal of Australian Darrell Hair from the International Cricket Council's (ICC) elite panel of umpires.

Ashraf-ul-Huq, chief executive of the ACC, told a news conference today he did not see the formation of any official Asian bloc on pressure issues in the ICC after the Hair episode.

''It is true that the four Asian test-playing nations got together and developed a consensus to have Hair removed from the elite panel, but it was nothing personal against him,'' Huq said.

Hair was removed from the elite panel after the meeting of the ICC executive board in Mumbai earlier this month when Pakistan lodged an official protest against him following the Oval test incident in August.

Hair and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove had changed the ball and penalised the Pakistanis five runs for alleged ball-tampering in the test against England.

This led to the Pakistanis refusing to continue play after tea on the fourth day in protest against the charges.

The ICC later cleared captain Inzamam-ul-Haq of the ball-tampering charges but banned him for four one-day games for bringing the game into disrepute.

With Pakistan mounting pressure on the ICC to take action against Hair alleging he had overstepped his authority in awarding the test to England, the ICC removed him with a majority vote.

''Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh discussed Hair's issue verbally and decided this region would be better off without him,'' Ashraf said.

''We just felt that the Asian players had lost confidence in his umpiring and he should not remain on the panel,'' he added.

Ashraf said the ACC did not expect any backlash from other test-playing nations from Hair's removal.

Cricket Australia has strongly supported Hair and protested to the ICC while Hair has said he is seeking legal advice on his removal and is in talks with the ICC about his future.

Ashraf also announced that all ten test-playing nations had confirmed their participation in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

''The ACC will hold a Twenty20 international tournament next year for its associate members. We also expect to then launch a regional competition for the four test nations,'' he added.

He announced the 2008 Asia Cup tournament would be held in Pakistan from Apr 12 to May 1.

REUTERS AY BD1704