Kiss Kiss Scratch Scratch

He insisted that Pakis were upto Scratch Scratch
As a result, the fans saw no match
Oh! He thought he again managed to pull a coup
But Hair had just landed in hot soup

Another Aussie has stirred the hornet's nest. This time the man being Umpire Darrell Hair. And the results appear to be more far reaching than just the sport.

Infact it is not about cricket at all!

After Dean Jones infamously blurted out his terrorist remarks referring to Hashim Amla, Umpire Darrell Hair has gone one step ahead and labelled the whole Pakistan team as cheats. This inspite the fact that none of the 26 Sky TV cameras picked up anything suspicious against Pakistan players.

Pakistan itself is no such stranger to such controversies and not without reason too. In 80s and 90s when cricket technology was still in its infancy stages, ball tampering, field restriction violations amongst other things were seen as instruments that could be used to gain competitive advantage. Some teams were good at it while some weren't. The Pakis were the best.

But today when on-field umpires have support from off-field umpires having access to cutting edging technology, manipulating any aspect of the game is not only difficult but almost impossible. In this context Umpire Hair's discretionary call about ball tampering by Paki players was not only uncalled for but totally unjustified. What further puts a black shadow on the unfortunate decision is that Umpire Hair did not deem it necessary to discuss such an important matter with anyone. The penalty decision could have been easily reserved till tea time when there would have been time to discuss it. By taking an unilateral decision, Umpire Hair not only placed the interests of the game at risk but also provided one more example to the raging debate on racism in sport.

England would have won the match, Hair would have made his point by sticking to his conviction and Pakistan too will redeem their pride when they come out clean, which they will - sooner or later. The only undeserving loser in the whole controversy is the spirit in which the series was played.

This series was seen as some as a step in bridging the growing discontinuity between the Muslim world and the Western world. What instead remains is a whole lot of mess that needs to be cleaned up. And even after the mess is taken care of, the stains and the reminder of the ugly incident will continue to haunt the people of both nations and cricket fans all over the world for a long time to come.