Hair labels Afridi a serial cheat

SYDNEY: Test umpire Darrell Hair has branded disgraced Shahid Afridi a serial cheat likely to re-offend.

"Cheat is the only word for him," Hair said of Afridi, who was banned for two Twenty20 games for biting the ball at the WACA last Sunday.

"He has cheated before, he has cheated in this instance he pleaded guilty and I"m sure he will again. He is no angel.

"I remember that incident when he deliberately scratched the pitch when he thought everyone was looking the other way. He thought he would get away with it but he was caught then as well. Unfortunately he has become a highly overrated player as well. His first innings at international level was a great century but he has lived off that and never really lived up to it."

Hair was effectively run out of the game by the International Cricket Council for several years after reporting the Pakistan side for ball tampering in a Test against England at The Oval in 2006.

"I don"t see what has happened this week as vindication of what we did at The Oval," Hair said. "But I do think it"s interesting that the same man (match referee Ranjan Madugalle) who flew from a few thousand miles away well after the event to find the Pakistanis not guilty at The Oval has found Afridi guilty in Perth when he is on the spot. It is all a bit of a laugh really."

Afridi claimed on Pakistani television that every side tampered with the ball and he was trying to give his side an edge.

Hair was not surprised by the incident in Perth.

"Afridi has come out and said every team has done it but their bowling coach Waqar Younis has been convicted of ball tampering," Hair said.

Afridi was banned for a Test and two One-day Internationals for damaging the pitch in the second match of the three-Test series against England in 2005 at Faisalabad.

TV cameras caught him scraping his boots on the pitch when play was held up after a gas canister exploded.

Source:thenews