Hair

Colombo: Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Sunday welcomed the ICC’s decision to ban Australia’s Darrell Hair from international umpiring, accusing him of anti-Asian bias.

“Hair had a prejudice against Asian teams. I am happy that he is finally out,” Ranatunga said. “The decision will do good to future cricket.”

The decision to oust Hair was taken at the ICC Executive Board’s two-day meeting that ended Saturday in Mumbai following a complaint by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Hair has been under pressure since he accused Pakistan of ball tampering during a Test against England at The Oval in August.

“He was a wrong man from the beginning to be in cricket. I am happy that he is finally out,” Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to the World Cup title in 1996, said.

“I thank the ICC for taking the decision, which took a long time, but I think the ICC handled him well. They gave him time and chances, and finally it came to be known that he was not a fair umpire,” Ranatunga said.