Former umpire Darrell Hair is not at all surprised by the allegations of fixing against match officials, and said such rumours started doing rounds since the birth of the cash-rich Indian Premier League, said a report in The Hindu.
Hair’s statement came after the ICC launched an “urgent investigation” into the claims made by a television channel that several umpires were willing to fix matches for money in the just-concluded World Twenty20 and Sri Lanka Premier League.
“I was wondering how long it would take before some umpire did some stupid things,” he said.
“There have been rumours going around for ages, since the IPL started, that umpires were involved,” Hair was quoted in the report.
“In my whole career, there had always been word that certain umpires were on the take here or there,” said Hair.
“But to be fair, all the guys I umpired with at international level I think were pretty much above board. But I don’t doubt that there have been others around, probably in a lesser environment, trying to make a quick buck,” Hair said.
Hair also served as the executive officer at the New South Wales Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association following his retirement until last year.
“When I was working back at Cricket NSW, some of the Australian guys had been over there (the subcontinent) coaching and they just expressed surprise at things that were going on in that IPL,” he said.
“They couldn’t nail anything — it’s a bit difficult when they are talking in a different language. “Some games were going along perfectly well and then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose, there is a flurry of wickets and all of a sudden you have lost a game that you were comfortably winning,” Hair said.
Meanwhile, The Indian Express writes that, the match-fixing row involving umpires have put the scanner on reserve umpire or the fourth umpire. Rarely seen under normal match circumstances, the reserve umpire is part of the inner circle of officials and is therefore privy to vital match information.
The reserve umpire, like the match referee, on-field umpires and the third umpire, has access to information including that regarding the nature of pitch, playing XI and weather conditions prevailing.
This pre-match information that helps betting syndicates fix odds is what two Sri Lankan umpires - Sagara Gallage and Maurice Winston - were purportedly relaying to undercover reporters during the sting operation aired on Monday.
When the International Cricket Council conducts their ‘urgent investigation’ after studying the tapes aired by India TV, they will need to take a call on further checks and balances with regard to reserve umpires, who are picked by the home boards from their national panel, and over whose selection the ICC has no direct control.
By Indian Sports News Network