The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Hair apologises for `ill-advised' e-mail

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Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Hair apologises for `ill-advised' e-mail

LONDON: Australian umpire Darrell Hair has apologised for sending an ``ill-advised'' e-mail offering to resign in exchange for $500,000 following the ball-tampering dispute that cut short the fourth Test between England and Pakistan.

Hair's offer was rejected last week by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which made his e-mail public.

``I wish to apologise to all my family, friends and supporters, because I somehow feel that I may have let them down, simply by sending an ill-advised, but entirely confidential e-mail that has given other people the opportunity to question my motives,'' Hair said in a statement reported by the British media on Tuesday.

``I firstly want to thank my friends and family for their support. In addition, I want to thank so many supporters from around the world, for their support in huge numbers. I am both stunned and gratified by those messages from people I've never even met.''

Hair, meanwhile, was dropped from officiating in Wednesday's second-team county match between Derbyshire and Gloucestershire at Chesterfield.

``It is inappropriate for him to do the match with what is going on,'' said Chris Kelly, the Umpires and Match Operations Manager of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). ``There were lots and lots of issues.''

Hair avoids media gaze

Meanwhile, Hair is believed to have taken shelter in a country hideaway in northern England to avoid media gaze.

According to a report from the The Australian newspaper, the media has made Hair a target round the clock. He decided to leave his house in Lincoln and stay at a private residence in northern England after being harassed by newspaper journalists when he returned from the Test.

Hair even went so far as to phone the local police and have them investigate whether the harassment from the media throng was a breach of the law. — Agencies

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