GREED basically lies at the root of the whole Darrell Hair affair. In the search for quick money, we have an umpire who definitely had a long career ahead publishing what amounts to an autobiography. Most people do that after they finish their careers, but Hair obviously thought of cashing in the same way that stars like Tiger Woods have.
The reason? Very simple. He had what people in India call "masala." Stuff that is added to a curry to give it pungency. In other words, here was the umpire who called a bowler for throwing -- the only instance of this for over 25 years -- prepared to put down the whole episode in print along with his comments. His own "masala".
Any publisher would have concluded that the best time to sell such a book would have been just before the Sri Lankan team arrived in Australia. The regular launch was held and Hair said his piece. What was behind it? The bid for maximum sales of the book. And who benefits? We all know the answer to that one.
I don't think Hair anticipated such a backlash. He probably thought that the Australian board would not do much apart from making some disapproving noises. And the board may well have done that were it not for two factors -- one, the recent Waugh-Warne incident, over which the board copped a fair bit of stick from the media, and two, a vociferous protest from the Sri Lankan board.
The reaction has caught Hair on the backfoot. His colleagues have sought to support him by lodging protests about Muralitharan's action with the one-day series referee Peter van der Merwe. And the referee has played his role by trumpeting unwritten charges to a section of the media. He has even gone to the extent of hinting that the bowler does chuck and umpires are afraid to call him because they fear a backlash.
Hair now faces the possibility of not being on the World Cup panel. He may also may be sacked by Australian board. In the end, one may well ask: would it not have been more prudent to wait until his career was nearing its end and then write the book? Australia's number one umpire (Steve Randell is unlikely to umpire again, not matter whether he is found guilty of the charges against him) has thrown away his future in the search for quick money.