Hair should umpire matches with Asian teams: Ranatunga

Sydney: Sri Lankan Cricket Board chairman Arjuna Ranatunga might have had problems with controversial umpire Darrell Hair during his playing days but now he is ready to accept the Australian in the matches involving Asian teams.

"At the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting [in Dubai this week] we mentioned our concerns about the Darrell Hair issue," former captain Ranatunga was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph.

"But the important factor is if he is eligible to umpire, I think he should do all matches featuring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, otherwise he won't be tested."

Sacked

Hair had called Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for "throwing" and since then he had faced flak from Ranatunga.

The Australian umpire, who has fallen out with Sri Lanka and Pakistan during his career, was reinstated as a Test and one-day umpire by the ICC on Wednesday. Hair was sacked from ICC's elite panel after the infamous Oval Test between England and Pakistan in August 2006. Pakistan became the first team to forfeit a Test when they refused to take the field because they were penalised five runs for alleged ball tampering.