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Darrell Bruce Hair, (born 30 September 1952 in Mudgee, New South Wales), is a current Australian Test cricket match umpire, from New South Wales. He stood on the Emirates International panel of umpires from 2002 to 2003, when he (along with fellow Australian Simon Taufel, and New Zealander Billy Bowden) was promoted to the ICC Elite umpire panel.

[B][U]Career:[/U][/B]
Hair has stood in 76 Test matches to date (August 21). To date, Hair has umpired 124 one-day international (ODI) matches since 1991. Altogether, he has umpired 131 first-class matches in his career since 1989. His first match was between Australia and India at Adelaide on 25 January to 29 January 1992, won by Australia by 38 runs with second innings centuries to David Boon and Mark Taylor after a first innings of only 145, and two 5-wicket bags by Craig McDermott. ‘’Wisden’’ (1993 ed., p1011-2) noted that the game was “marred … [B][I]by controversy over lbw decisions [/I][/B]– eight times Indians were given out, while all but two of their own appeals were rejected”. Hair's partner was Peter McConnell, standing in his last Test match.

[B][U]Controversies:[/U][/B]
Throughout his umpiring career, Hair has been a controversial figure. Some of the most prominent incidents have involved Asian nations, leading to accusations of bias from some quarters.[1] Despite this, however, Hair has stood in over 75 Tests, demonstrating that he has the confidence of the ICC and he has been supported by fellow umpires such as Simon Taufel. [2] On the other hand he has been criticised by former players such as Viv Richards, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Madan Lal and Arjuna Ranatunga.

[B][I]1993 Adelaide[/I][/B]
The Test match between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide on 23 January to 26 January 1993 was a fluctuating match won by the visitors by a mere one run. The victory was achieved when Australia’s No. 11, Craig McDermott, was dismissed after a 40-run partnership with Tim May had brought Australia so close to victory. Hair ruled that a short-pitched ball from Courtney Walsh had brushed McDermott’s glove and upheld the appeal for a catch, but many observers believed that McDermott had not gloved the ball.

[B][I]1994 Adelaide[/I][/B]
In the Test match between Australia and South Africa at Adelaide on 28 January to 1 February 1994, Wisden (1995 ed., pp1086-7) stated that Peter Kirsten “had an animated conversation with Hair after three of his team-mates were given out lbw. Another outburst when he was given out leg-before himself in the second innings” resulted in Kirsten being fined a total of 65 per cent of his match fee. [3]

[B][I]1995 Melbourne[/I][/B]
In his only match between Australia and Sri Lanka, at Melbourne on 26 December to 30 December 1995 he called Muttiah Muralitharan seven times in three overs for throwing. Wisden (1997 ed., p.1129-30) stated “unusually, he made his judgement from the bowler’s end, and several minutes passed before the crowd realised that Muralitharan’s elbow, rather than his foot, was at fault”.

Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga responded by leading his team off the field. When they finally returned, Ranatunga switched Muralitharan to the other end where he was not called by either Hair or his colleague, New Zealander Steve Dunne, although Hair told the Sri Lankans at tea on the second day that he was ready to call him from the striker’s end.

Hair did not umpire another Test match involving Sri Lanka until their tour of the West Indies in 2003. He did not stand in the 1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and, in 1999, received death threats [4].

[B][I]2005 Faisalabad[/I][/B]
In November 2005, Darrell Hair referred a run-out decision concerning captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to the third umpire Nadeem Ghauri during the Faisalabad Test. Inzamam was taking evasive action, and a batsman cannot be run out if he leaves his ground due to evasive action. However, Ghauri ruled him out.[5]

[B][U]References:[/U][/B]

[B][1][/B] BBC Sport - How Hair courts controversy
[COLOR="Blue"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/5271108.stm[/COLOR]

[B][2] [/B]Cricinfo - Taufel backs Hair and Doctrove
[COLOR="blue"]http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/257376.html[/COLOR]
[B][3][/B] Cricinfo - A hair-raising past
[COLOR="blue"]http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/257308.html[/COLOR]

[B][4] [/B]BBC News - Umpire 'received death threats'
[COLOR="blue"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/1999_cricket_world_cup/general_news/341762.stm[/COLOR]

[B][5][/B] Inzamam 'surprised' by run-out ruling, Cricinfo, November 21, 2005.
[COLOR="blue"]http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakveng/content/story/226700.html[/COLOR]